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The Center for Biological Diversity CREDO and Friends of the Earth Slam Keystone Reversal

March 23, 2012 Add Comment Edit

The Center for Biological Diversity, CREDO Action and Friends of the Earth jointly slammed the Obama administration’s announcement to go ahead with the southern half of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Becky Bond, Political Director at CREDO Action, said:

“In expediting the southern portion of Keystone XL, President Obama is trying to have it both ways. It is deeply disappointing that he can’t even hold to the minimum standard for a full environmental review that he invoked in rejecting the full pipeline in January. Promoting the export portion of this pipeline will lead to higher gas prices in the U.S. and to the worst climate impacts of the pipeline. The president needs to prove that his initial rejection of Keystone XL wasn’t simply a ploy to placate the environmental voters who dared to hold him to his own rhetoric about the need for real leadership on climate and our fossil fuel dependence.”

Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity, said:

“The Gulf Coast leg would add to the fossil fuel infrastructure at a time when we critically need to transition away from fossil fuels in order to avoid climate catastrophe. Just like Keystone I, the Gulf Coast leg of Keystone XL will spill, polluting land and water and ruining important habitat for endangered species like the whooping crane, piping plover, American burying beetle, interior least tern and Arkansas River shiner. The president’s support for this pipeline is troubling. Keystone XL may be a boon to Big Oil companies in the exporting business but those profits will come at a stiff price for our land, water, wildlife and climate.”

Kim Huynh, dirty fuels campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

“In expediting the southern leg of Keystone XL, President Obama has gone 180 degrees in the wrong direction in less than 180 days. It’s inexcusable that the administration is cutting corners to support building this dirty tar sands oil pipeline in parts. The president cannot fulfill his promise to protect the climate and transition us to 21st century clean energy, while bending over backwards to help big oil companies tap the continent’s biggest carbon bomb. The southern segment would threaten our heartland with spills that pollute our air and water and hurt local economies.”

For more information, click here.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
Obama to Expedite the Keystone XL Pipeline
Bill McKibben on Obama's Keystone XL Reversal
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The Keystone XL and Rising Fuel Prices
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Republicans Refuse to Let the Keystone XL Die
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Republicans Use Blackmail to Gain Support for the Keystone XL Pipeline
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NRDC November 6 Protest Against the Keystone XL in Washington DC
Nebraska's Special Session to Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline
South Dakota Wants Additional Protections Against Spills from the Keystone XL Pipeline
Safety Measures for the Keystone XL Rejected by Environmentalists in Nebraska
State Department Hearings for the Keystone XL Pipeline
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Cornell University Questions the Economic Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline
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Oil Spills Add to Concerns about the Keystone XL Pipeline
Nobel Prize Laureates Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline
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Bill McKibben on Obama's Keystone XL Reversal

March 23, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Here are Bill McKibben's comments in response to President Obama's decision to go ahead with the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline:

We’re in the middle of the hottest spring week America has ever seen, it makes it ironic almost to the point of parody that the president is still lauding pipelines and drilling rigs alongside solar panels and advanced batteries, as if all forms of energy were equally benign.

[The President's reversal on the Keystone XL] comes amidst a completely unprecedented March heat wave—2,000 records fell last week as cities like Chicago broke records dating back to the 19th century, and that heat is expected to move towards the eastern seaboard this week; meanwhile, record levels of atmospheric moisture are expected to trigger flooding in Texas and Oklahoma. It comes on the tail of a year when America set a new record for multi-billion dollar weather disasters. And it comes on his first visit to the Sooner State since it set the all-time American record for the hottest summer by any state—the average reading for June, July and August was 86.9 degrees, breaking the old record (also Oklahoma, this time 1934) by an astonishing 1.7 degrees. In other words, if there was ever a moment for talking about global warming, this would be it.

Amidst the many environmental disappointments of the Obama administration—the fizzled Copenhagen conference, the opening of vast swathes of the Arctic to drilling and huge stretches of federal land across the northern Plains to coal-mining, the failure to work for climate legislation in the Senate, the shameful blocking of regulations to control ozone—the president has done one somewhat brave thing. He responded to the largest outpouring of environmental enthusiasm so far this millennium and denied a permit for the main Keystone XL pipe from Canada’s tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico.

Cynics said he did so just to avoid disappointing young people before the election, and pointed out that he invited pipeline proponent Transcanada to reapply for the permit. It’s hard not to wonder if those cynics might be right.

True, the most critical part of the pipeline still can’t be built—thanks to Obama and 42 Democratic Senators, the connection to Canada remains blocked, and hence that remains a great victory for the people who rallied so fiercely all fall. But the sense grows that Obama may be setting us up for a bitter disappointment—that his real allegiance is to the carbon barons. In recent weeks he’s been talking tough about removing subsidies for the oil industry, a good idea that many of us will work hard to achieve—but so far he hasn’t mentioned by far the most important subsidy, the fact that unlike every other industry fossil fuel gets to dump its main waste product, carbon, into the atmosphere for free.

And if you think about it, “all of the above” is not a particularly coherent energy policy, not if one worries about climate change. Burning all the oil you can and then putting up a solar panel is like drinking six martinis at lunch and then downing a VitaminWater. You’re still a drunk—just one with your daily requirement of C and D. If a presidential candidate said they had an “all of the above” foreign policy, where every other nation was an equal ally, they’d be thought lightweight or even dangerous.

But with energy, it apparently seems politic to insist we need never make a choice. Or at least to tailor your talking points to your audience.

Related Posts
Obama to Expedite the Keystone XL Pipeline
The Center for Biological Diversity CREDO and Friends of the Earth Slam Keystone Reversal
Indigenous People and Students Protest Obama's Reversal on Keystone XL
Republicans Vow to Continue Push for Keystone
GOP's Keystone XL Proposal Fails in Senate
Anti-Keystone XL Ad Campaign
The Keystone XL and Rising Fuel Prices
Video: Keystone XL will Raise Gas Prices
Republicans Refuse to Let the Keystone XL Die
Keystone XL Protest Message Campaign a Success
Resistance to Republican Efforts to Resurrect the Keystone XL Pipeline
Obama Cancels the Keystone XL Pipeline Project
Republicans Use Blackmail to Gain Support for the Keystone XL Pipeline
President Obama Stops Keystone XL Pipeline
Tar Sands Day of Action in Washington
President Obama and the Fate of the Keystone XL Pipeline
NRDC November 6 Protest Against the Keystone XL in Washington DC
Nebraska's Special Session to Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline
South Dakota Wants Additional Protections Against Spills from the Keystone XL Pipeline
Safety Measures for the Keystone XL Rejected by Environmentalists in Nebraska
State Department Hearings for the Keystone XL Pipeline
Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Protest
Cornell University Questions the Economic Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline
Keystone XL Protest Ends in Washington
Oil Spills Add to Concerns about the Keystone XL Pipeline
Nobel Prize Laureates Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline
Religious Leaders Join the Protest Against Keystone XL Pipeline
US Protests Against the Tar Sands Oil
Canada on Track to be a Dirty Energy Superpower
Bill McKibben and other Protestors Jailed for their Opposition to the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
Video: NASA's Leading Climatologist Addresses Crowd Before he was Arrested at the Keystone XL Tar Sands Protest in Washington

Indigenous People and Students Protest Obama's Reversal on Keystone XL

March 23, 2012 Add Comment Edit

There is widespread public opposition to the Keystone XL project due to the severe risks it poses to the climate, air, water, wildlife, and indigenous and landowner rights. Under the guise of his "All of the Above" energy strategy, President Obama decided to go ahead with the southern leg of the Keystone XL.

Native Americans were forced by local authorities to protest the President's decision in Cushing, from a cage erected in Memorial Park.

“President Obama is an adopted member of the Crow Tribe, so his fast-tracking a project that will desecrate known sacred sites and artifacts is a real betrayal and disappointment for his Native relatives everywhere,” said Marty Cobenais of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “Tar sands is devastating First Nations communities in Canada already and now they want to bring that environmental, health, and social devastation to US tribes.”

“Natives in Canada live downstream from toxic tar sands mines,” said Earl Hatley, “and they are experiencing spikes in colon, liver, blood and rare bile-duct cancers which the Canadian government and oil companies simply ignore. And now they want to pipe these tar sands through the heart of Indian country, bulldozing grave sites and ripping out our heritage.”

First nations people are also concerned that the Keystone XL and the Canadian tar sands mines will ignore impacts to indigenous communities and their sacred spaces.

According to a survey done by the Oklahoma Archeological Survey there are 88 archaeological sites and 34 historic structures that were threatened by Keystone XL. Even if TransCanada reroutes the pipeline there will still be 71 archaeological sites and 22 historic structures at risk.

Beyond the threat to their own cultural heritage, the group voiced opposition to the pipeline’s environmental impacts.

Young people across the nation are also unhappy with the President's "All of the Above" energy approach. The President was greeted by protestors when he went to Ohio State University after his announcement in Cushing.

"I don't know the last time President Obama took a multiple choice exam, but when you have two contradictory options like protecting our climate and increasing our dependence on fossil fuels, 'all of the above' is not a correct answer," said Stuart McIntyre, a student at Ohio State University. "President Obama needs to choose one or the other, because our future as young people depends on it."

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
Obama to Expedite the Keystone XL Pipeline
The Center for Biological Diversity CREDO and Friends of the Earth Slam Keystone Reversal
Bill McKibben on Obama's Keystone XL Reversal
Republicans Vow to Continue Push for Keystone
GOP's Keystone XL Proposal Fails in Senate
Anti-Keystone XL Ad Campaign
The Keystone XL and Rising Fuel Prices
Video: Keystone XL will Raise Gas Prices
Republicans Refuse to Let the Keystone XL Die
Keystone XL Protest Message Campaign a Success
Resistance to Republican Efforts to Resurrect the Keystone XL Pipeline
Obama Cancels the Keystone XL Pipeline Project
Republicans Use Blackmail to Gain Support for the Keystone XL Pipeline
President Obama Stops Keystone XL Pipeline
Tar Sands Day of Action in Washington
President Obama and the Fate of the Keystone XL Pipeline
NRDC November 6 Protest Against the Keystone XL in Washington DC
Nebraska's Special Session to Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline
South Dakota Wants Additional Protections Against Spills from the Keystone XL Pipeline
Safety Measures for the Keystone XL Rejected by Environmentalists in Nebraska
State Department Hearings for the Keystone XL Pipeline
Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Protest
Cornell University Questions the Economic Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline
Keystone XL Protest Ends in Washington
Oil Spills Add to Concerns about the Keystone XL Pipeline
Nobel Prize Laureates Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline
Religious Leaders Join the Protest Against Keystone XL Pipeline
US Protests Against the Tar Sands Oil
Canada on Track to be a Dirty Energy Superpower
Bill McKibben and other Protestors Jailed for their Opposition to the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
Video: NASA's Leading Climatologist Addresses Crowd Before he was Arrested at the Keystone XL Tar Sands Protest in Washington

Obama to Expedite the Keystone XL Pipeline

March 21, 2012 Add Comment Edit

An Invitation to Join the Tar Sands Action in DC on Nov. 6th

September 28, 2011 Add Comment Edit

This call to action was issued by a diverse group of movement leaders to bring together a massive rally on November 6th in Washington DC. To join the rally, sign up here.

Dear friends—

Once again, we’re sending you another long letter to ask for your help.

It’s been several weeks since the last people got out of jail in Washington DC, at the end of two weeks of civil disobedience that led to 1253 brave people ending up in handcuffs to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. It was the largest such action in decades, and because of their leadership lots has begun to happen.

#The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu along with seven other Nobel Peace Prize winners wrote a letter to the president asking that he block the pipeline. They acknowledged the actions of those of us in DC, saying: “These brave individuals have spoken movingly about experiencing the power of nonviolence in that time. They represent millions of people whose lives and livelihoods will be affected by construction and operation of the pipeline.”

#At President Obama’s first public speech since the sit-ins ended, a hardy bunch of University of Richmond students unfurled a huge banner demanding that the president veto the pipeline – followed by similar actions in Columbus, Ohio, Raleigh North Carolina, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Wilmington, Delaware and many many others.

#Meeting on the Rosebud Sioux reservation last week, Native tribal leaders from both sides of the border and private land owners from South Dakota and Nebraska signed a ‘Mother Earth Accord’ opposing Keystone XL and the tar sands. These are the people who started this fight; and they’re being joined by everyone right down to Nebraska Cornhusker football fans who booed lustily when a Keystone ad showed up on the Jumbotron at a recent game. The next day the university ended their sponsorship deal with Trans-Canada Pipeline

# Even as we issue this letter, Canadian activists by the hundreds are risking arrest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and brave protesters are trying to block shipments of heavy equipment to Alberta from Idaho and Montana–these are remarkable signs of continent-wide protest.

#And on the not-so-good-side: huge wildfires driven by the worst drought in Texas history have destroyed towns and killed good people; the biggest rainfalls ever recorded have done similar damage in New Jersey, New York, and Vermont.

So—there’s real momentum for action, and real need. We have less than 90 days to convince the President not to approve the pipeline. So here’s the thing: we need your help again. We need you to keep using your creativity and bodies as a part of this struggle—to fight this fight even though there’s no guarantee of victory.

Here’s the plan, in three stages

1) Most important of all: On Sunday November 6 we will return to Washington. Exactly one year before the election, we want to encircle the whole White House in an act of solemn protest. We need to remind President Obama of the power of the movement that he rode to the White House in 2008. This issue is much bigger than any individual person, President or not, and that we will carry on, with or without him.

We’re not certain this is the right plan. We don’t know if there are the thousands of people that it will take to encircle the White House—we’ve never tried something this ambitious before. And we worry that it’s too earnest and idealistic—that maybe we should be going back to jail. But unlike last time, this time we’re working from a position of strength, and we can firmly but peacefully remind the president that we were the real power behind his campaign. We’re not expecting any arrests at this action, but we are expecting to send an unmistakable, unavoidable message.

2) But we have to start building momentum now with action in our communities. Between now and October 7, the State Department is holding a series of hearings on its flimsy report on Keystone XL. Our colleagues in the environmental movement are doing a good job of organizing for those meetings, including the final one in DC—and we’ll be supporting a rally at the final hearing.

But starting on October 8, we’ll begin a rolling series of actions at key Obama campaign offices around the country. We want these to be a bit bigger and more serious than what’s come before, so we’ll be doing training and providing materials to folks in those communities. We need to make sure that the message gets through to headquarters that people remember the promises from the 2008 campaign and want them kept.

3) We need to keep showing up at the president’s public appearances – just like what’s already been happening on campus after campus, town after town. (We especially like the chant that goes: “Yes We Can…Stop the Pipeline.”). Our organizing team is tracking the president’s every appearance to look for opportunities to act. If the President is coming to your neighborhood, we need you to get his attention. (We’ll help you do that).

We’ve already shown we have the courage and the fortitude for civil disobedience.Now we need to mix it up and show a different side of the campaign. Many of us were sincerely moved by Barack Obama’s campaign for president. We’re not yet ready to concede that his promises were simply the empty talk of politicians. We’re not going to be cynics until we absolutely have no choice.

It will be a beautiful and brave sight, the White House enclosed by the kind of people that put President Obama there. Since he’s said he’ll make up his mind by the end of the year, now’s the time. We know it’s hard to get to Washington, but if you can: this is the moment.

Related Posts
State Department Hearings for the Keystone XL Pipeline
Arrests Mark One of the Largest Acts of Civil Disobedience in Canadian History
Supporters of the Ottawa Action Opposing the Tarsands and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Ottawa Action Opposing the Tar Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Training for the Tar Sands and Keystone XL Ottawa Action
Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Protest in Washington and Now Ottawa
Cornell University Questions the Economic Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline
Keystone XL Protest Ends in Washington
Bill McKibben and other Protestors Jailed for their Opposition to the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
Oil Spills Add to Concerns about the Keystone XL Pipeline
Nobel Prize Laureates Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline
Video: NASA's Leading Climatologist Addresses Crowd Before he was Arrested at the Keystone XL Tar Sands Protest in Washington
Religious Leaders Join the Protest Against Keystone XL Pipeline
US Protests Against the Tar Sands Oil
Canada on Track to be a Dirty Energy Superpower
Oil Spills Add to Concerns about the Keystone XL Pipeline
Nobel Prize Laureates Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline

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