Sir,

Mr. Terence Halden, 'Get the facts straight', April 5, has politely told me to keep my mouth shut since I don't know what I'm talking about. I wonder if he'd be brave enough to say the same thing to Clayton Thomas-Muller, from the Mathais Colomb Cree First Nation in Manitoba, Canada, who came earlier this year to present a petition to the Canadian government at its High Commission in London.

The petition called on the Canadian government to 'stop putting the interests of the tar sands industry and other environmentally destructive companies above the rights of its First Nations', to uphold the treaties originally signed by First Nations and the British Crown, and to set aside any legislation that undermines them.

The Canadian tar sands industry has received a barrage of criticism from environmentalists and human rights campaigners for its devastating effects on nearby indigenous communities. Tar sands are extracted in an incredibly environmentally damaging way.

The process emits 3.2 to 4.5 times more greenhouse gas than conventional oil extraction, uses vast amounts of fresh water and natural gas, and in many cases leaves behind lakes of toxic pollution. Tar sands developments destroy vast tracts of forest habitat, threatening wildlife with extinction. The resulting pollution has been thought to cause local communities, often First Nations, to suffer rare forms of cancer.

Eleanor Clegg,

Pembrokeshire

Friends of the Earth,

Clunderwen.