As all the brave protesters heading to Washington, D.C., the next two weeks know, speaking out against greed and environmental destruction can be a risky proposition. Not just in terms of potential arrest, verbal or even physical abuse, but also of having your message hijacked, distorted, turned against you, or simply ignored by the powers that be. One good antidote against being typecast and marginalized as angry, humorless, bitter or any other characterizations aimed at putting you in a bad light and obfuscating your message is

cReativity

.
Nobody knows this better than Canadian artist Franke James, a tireless environmental advocate who has been calling attention to her government's tar sands dealings with great humor and playfulness. As a thank you for being such a pain in their oil-barrel belly, Franke has been getting stiff-armed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s tar sands-banking government. Not only were they able to choke off Franke's What can one person do? art show which had been set to tour 20 cities across Europe to raise environmental awareness with youth and inspire teens to make their own climate change art, but got her on Harper's infamous political black list.
The whole story reads like a cold war spy movie, but it basically comes down to this:
But apparently, I’ve ignited the Harper Government’s fury by telling the truth about Canada’s footdragging on climate action. And having the audacity to advocate pollution taxes and tougher environmental policies on Alberta’s Tar Sands!
Please follow me below the squiggle for some action items to stop the proposed tar sands XL pipeline from Alberta down to Texas and more info on Franke's creative campaign of becoming a mosquito in the government's ears to stop the oil from flowing in the first place.