The Co-operative Group Presents ’The Tarnished Earth Street Gallery’

Tarnished Earth, a dramatic street gallery of photographs telling the story of one of the world’s biggest ecological disasters is open FREE to anyone walking along the morelondon site on London’s Southbank (between London Bridge and Tower Bridge) for four weeks from 14th September.

The FREE outdoor photo exhibition will then tour the country, making an impact in busy public areas in cities across the UK by Spring 2011.

The striking images will show how Canada’s magnificent Boreal Forest is being destroyed and polluted by the rush to extract oil from the tar sands just below the surface.

Tarnished Earth, which is being staged by The Co-operative, in conjunction with WWF-UK and Greenpeace, will contrast the destruction caused by the oil extraction with the area’s pristine wilderness and the traditional way of life of the indigenous First Nation Cree.

The street gallery is the latest chapter in The Co-operative’s Toxic Fuels campaign, which aims to stop tar sands expansion. The greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands oil is far greater than those of conventional oil, and its exploitation alone would be sufficient to take us to the brink of runaway climate change.

The story of the Albertan tar sands developments and the devastating impact they are having on the environment and local First Nation communities is told in the film Dirty Oil, which was also supported by The Co-operative. The film is available to buy on DVD from 13th September.

For further information about the exhibition or about Dirty Oil
Please contact Rogers & Cowan:
Caragh Cook – ccook@rogersandcowan.com 0203 048 0482
Jenny Innes – jinnes@rogersandcowan.com 0203 048 0483




About The Co-operative and Toxic Fuels:
One of The Co-operative’s ethical campaigns is Toxic Fuels, which aims to highlight the shocking global trend of extracting oil from unconventional sources, such as tar sands and shale oil. Such exploitation threatens global efforts to avoid dangerous levels of climate change and risks local ecological disaster.

Paul Monaghan, Head of Social Goals and Sustainability at The Co-operative, said “We recognise the power of art to motivate people to take action and drive change, and we are confident that Tarnished Earth will help raise awareness of the massive environmental damage being caused by the exploitation of Canadian tar sands.”
www.co-operative.coop/toxicfuels

Contact Information

Lindsay Colbeck

Senior PR Officer

The Co-operative Group

Contact via E-mail