Neil Young concert tour surpasses anti-oilsands fund goal

Singer Neil Young says his controversial anti-oilsandstour has passed its $75,000 goal to raise money for a northern Alberta reserve's fight against oilsands development.

• Neil Young's anti-oilsands comments draw fire from industry

"The tour has been a great success," Young said at a press conferencein Calgaryjust prior to the last of fourfundraising concerts.

"Awareness was raised. Now Canada must respond in the courts," he added, referring to alawsuitlaunched by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation againstShell Canada's expansion of itsJackpinemine, a project even Ottawa hasadmittedwill likely causesignificant adverse environmental effects."

We will be positioned to match the legal power of our opposition dollar for dollar.- Neil Young

Proceeds from Young's tour will support the first nation's legal defence fund.

"We will be positioned to match the legal power of our opposition dollar for dollar," Young said.

Young said he would not acceptan invitation from a petroleum producers group to meet prior to Sunday's concert.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers issued a statement Sunday saying it offered to "have a balanced discussion" with Young and ACFNChief Allan Adam.

• Jackpine opposition expensive for Athabasca Chipewyan

Young saidCAPPwould not accept environmental activist David Suzuki as a moderator. Young appeared on stage with Suzuki, along with University of Alberta water scientist andoilsandscritic David Schindlerand ACFN Chief Allan Adam.

"It's like water off a duck's back," remarked the singer when asked about how he faces criticism of his stance.

Young was challenged by a reporter Sunday about his use of a private jet.

"Would I be able to take my carbon footprint and erase it, what I've caused with that in my life?" he said.

"I doubt it. But possibly, if I can do enough now to change the way the world is going, now that I'm educated about what's happening on the earth and what's happening on the planet."

Young garnered considerable publicity last week with his first three concerts and has generated considerable debate.

• CBC's Rex Murphy says Neil Young's stance unfair

His tour wraps up tonight in Alberta, the province with the most at stake in the debate over the economic and environmental effects of oilsandsdevelopment

His Calgary performance follows stops in Toronto, Winnipeg andRegina where Young dropped statements about the oilsands that manydenounced as over-the top.

'Hiroshima'comment continues to anger

Young stuck by statements that the oilsands mining projects nearFort McMurray resemble the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb inHiroshima in 1945.

He also claimed during the past week that bitumen transported onthe proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas would end upin Chinaa country he says is one of the dirtiestin the world.

I just turned your CDs into landfill. So disappointed,- Terri Windover on Young's Twitter account

Young's Hiroshima claim prompted some Twitter users in the FortMcMurray area to post pictures of natural scenes of rivers, lakesand forests under the hashtag #myhiroshima.

Many of the photos are accompanied by comments such as, "The 'wasteland' behind me house," or "Dog sledding through nuclear wasteland," and are clearly meant to highlight the discrepancy between the rock star's portrayal of their home and what they say is the reality outside their doors.

"I just turned your CDs into landfill. So disappointed,"tweeted Terri Windover to Young's official Twitter account.

Compared to actress Jenny McCarthy

Catherine Swift, head of the Canadian Federation of IndependentBusiness, posted in .myhiroshima that Young was the "Jenny McCarthy" of the "anti-economic success anti-well-paying jobsmovement."

McCarthy, a former model and actress, vehemently claims childhoodvaccinations cause autism and other disabilities, despite thoseclaims having been disproven by rigorous scientific research.

"Keep on rockin' in the dumb world," Swift tweeted.

TransCanada, the company proposing to build theKeystone XL pipeline, has countered that the pipeline would be a
conduit for U.S. refineries.

Jim Cuddy from the Canadian band Blue Rodeo called Young's comparison of the oilsands with Hiroshima extreme.

Still, Cuddy suggested that Young has triggered a nationaldiscussion about the oilsands that is long overdue.

• Watch Jim Cuddy clarify his anti-oilsands comments

Young remained unbowed throughout the week, and warned onThursday that Alberta could end up looking "like the moon" if landisn't preserved.

"It is like a war zone, a disaster area from war, what'shappened up there," Young told a news conference ahead of hisWinnipeg concert.