Actor David Strathairn, nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of journalist Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck," released a video this week urging his fellow Americans to join the November 6 Tar Sands Action protest in front of the White House.
In the video, Strathairn urges President Obama to stick to his campaign messages. He says, "Obama ran for office speaking of the dangers of our fossil fuel addiction, promising to fight climate change and fully embrace a clean energy future. The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is a dangerous step away from that commitment."
In November, activists plan to surround the White House as part of the latest Tar Sands Action protest. In August, over 1,200 people were arrested during a two-week sit-in in front of the White House, according to a press release.
Strathairn is joined in his opposition by fellow actors Robert Redford, Daryl Hannah, Mark Ruffalo and Kyra Sedgwick. A number of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, and prominent environmentalists have also expressed their opposition to the proposed pipeline.
The pipeline, which would travel from Canadian oil sands sources in Alberta to refineries in Texas, is waiting on approval from the Obama administration. Obama announced this week that his government had not yet made a decision, but one is expected by the end of 2011.
WATCH:
Check out the slideshow below of prominent individuals who have spoken out against the pipeline:
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Dalai Lama
In September 2011, the Dalai Lama was one of nine Nobel Peace Prize laureates who <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/07/nobel-peace-prize-winners_n_952248.html" target="_hplink">sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama</a> urging him "to say 'no' to the plan proposed by the Canadian-based company TransCanada to build the Keystone XL, and to turn [his] attention back to supporting renewable sources of energy and clean transportation solutions."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Desmond Tutu was among<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/28/nobel-prize-winners-oil-sands_n_985171.html" target="_hplink"> a group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates</a> who signed letters to both U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, urging the men to stop the Keystone pipeline.
Al Gore
Gore has said it is essential to stop the Keystone pipeline because the tar sands oil it would carry is "the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-gore/the-dirtiest-fuel-on-the-_b_944186.html" target="_hplink">dirtiest source of fuel on the planet</a>."
Robert Redford
Actor and environmentalist <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000602/" target="_hplink">Robert Redford</a> recently added his name to the list of prominent individuals who are calling on President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline.
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/robert-redford-keystone-xl_n_1019789.html" target="_hplink">In a video for <em>The New York Times</em>, produced with the Natural Resources Defense Council</a>, Redford described the negative aspects of the proposed tar sands pipeline and said, "By deepening our reliance on oil, the pipeline would be a job killer."
Redford has previously been vocal about calling for alternatives to oil. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-redford/keystone-xl-pipeline_b_978835.html" target="_hplink">Writing last month for HuffPost</a>, he said, "Let's build the next generation of energy efficient cars, homes and workplaces. Let's develop wind, solar and other cleaner, safer, more sustainable sources of power and fuel. Let's invest in high-speed rail and smart communities that give us better transportation options."
Mark Ruffalo
Actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0749263/" target="_hplink">Mark Ruffalo</a>, famous for films like "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0842926/" target="_hplink">The Kids Are All Right</a>" and "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443706/" target="_hplink">Zodiac</a>," is also an outspoken activist and opponent of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Ruffalo <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/mark-ruffalo-tar-sands_n_924245.html" target="_hplink">said in a video</a> for the <a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/" target="_hplink">Tar Sands Action</a> group, "I've seen the kind of damage that out-of-control energy development can do to water and to communities near my own home, where fracking for natural gas is causing widespread pollution ... All these problems are connected -- we need to get off fossil fuels."
In the past, Ruffalo has also expressed his ire for hydraulic fracturing natural gas extraction, or fracking. He told The Huffington Post, "The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/mark-ruffalo-fights-frack_n_810461.html" target="_hplink">world is already leaving us behind</a>. We're being left behind. America. Because the gas and oil industry has a strangle hold on us. And our politicians."
Bill McKibben
Environmentalist and author <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mckibben/" target="_hplink">Bill McKibben</a> has expressed strong disapproval for the planned Keystone XL pipeline. In fact, he was <a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/press/releases/aug20/" target="_hplink">one of the first</a> of over 1,200 who were arrested at the Tar Sands Action sit-in at the White House in August.
Referring to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/keystone-xl-frustrated-environmental-activists-obama_n_933648.html" target="_hplink">his opposition to the Keystone Pipeline</a>, McKibben told HuffPost, "The people who've carried this fight for three years are indigenous people on both sides of the border who have a huge stake in it because it's on their land, and farmers and ranchers from places like Nebraska," he said.
He added, "It wasn't until I sat down and read <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-james-hansen" target="_hplink">Jim Hansen</a>'s analysis of how much carbon was in those things that I understood that this was not just a national issue, it's a global issue of the first order."
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000506/" target="_hplink">Julia Louis-Dreyfus</a>, known for her role as Elaine on the popular sitcom "Seinfeld," has released a video urging President Obama to reject the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Dreyfus recalls when Obama said "Let us be the generation that ends the tyranny of oil." But she says, "Big Oil is still pretty much running the show." She claims that by rejecting the pipeline, Obama has a chance to "make good on [his] word."
<a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/video-release-julia-louis-dreyfus-challenges-pres-obama-stop-keystone-xl/" target="_hplink">Louis-Dreyfus asks Obama</a>, "Denying the permit for a brutally stupid, money-grab like the Keystone XL pipeline is a no-brainer, right Mr President?"
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman
Dave Heineman, the Republican governor of Nebraska, has officially stated that he opposes the Keystone XL project.
As the governor of an agrarian state through which the pipeline would pass, Heineman expressed his concern for the pipeline's threat to Nebraska's vital water resources.
According to the Associated Press, "Heineman said <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/nebraska-governor-opposes-pipeline_n_943610.html" target="_hplink">he supports pipeline projects</a> but opposes the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL route."
In August, Heineman <a href="http://www.governor.nebraska.gov/news/2011/08/31_pipeline.html" target="_hplink">sent an open letter</a> to President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton urging them to "not allow TransCanada to build a pipeline over the Ogallala Aquifer and risk the potential damage to Nebraska's water."
Daryl Hannah
Actress <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000435/" target="_hplink">Daryl Hannah</a> has also lent her voice to the movement against the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/keystone-pipeline" target="_hplink">Keystone XL pipeline</a>.
In August, Hannah was one of the over 1,200 people to be <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/daryl-hannah-arrested-keystone-protest_n_942072.html" target="_hplink">arrested as an act of civil disobedience</a> in front of the White House. Shouting "no to the Keystone pipeline" as she was handcuffed, Hannah made it clear she opposed the proposed Canada to Texas pipeline.
Maude Barlow
Maude Barlow, a Canadian author and activist and chairperson of <a href="http://www.canadians.org/" target="_hplink">The Council of Canadians</a>, was arrested in September at a Keystone pipeline and oil sands protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/26/ottawa-oil-sands-pipeline-protest_n_981052.html" target="_hplink">She was one of over 100 protesters</a> of the demonstration's estimated 400 to be arrested.
Writing for HuffPost Canada about <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/maude-barlow/maude-barlow-arrested_b_982487.html" target="_hplink">her first experience being arrested</a>, Barlow blogged, "I did it because I fear we are killing the planet and I can no longer be content to only write and speak about it. Today my feet spoke for me as I crossed that barricade and took away one more fear in my life."
She also said, "By investing trillions of dollars into these pipelines, governments and the energy industry are ensuring the continued rapid acceleration of tar sands development, instead of supporting a process to move to an alternative and sustainable energy system."
Kyra Sedgwick
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001718/" target="_hplink">Kyra Sedgwick</a>, star of the television crime drama "The Closer," has voiced her opposition to the pipeline.
In a video for the <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/" target="_hplink">Natural Resources Defense Council</a>, Sedgwick said "Just like the BP oil spill, one glitch in the tar sands pipeline could destroy our clean water sources, possibly forever."
David Strathairn
Joining several other prominent actors, David Strathairn appeared in a video urging President Obama to reject the Keystone Pipeline. He calls on his fellow Americans to join the November 6 <a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/" target="_hplink">Tar Sands Action</a> in Washington, D.C.
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000657/" target="_hplink">Strathairn</a>, who is known for his portrayal of journalist Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck," said, "Obama ran for office speaking of the dangers of our fossil fuel addiction, promising to fight climate change and fully embrace a clean energy future. The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/keystone-pipeline" target="_hplink">Keystone XL tar sands pipeline</a> is a dangerous step away from that commitment."
Actor David Strathairn, nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of journalist Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck," released a video this week urging his fellow Americans to join t...
Actor David Strathairn, nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of journalist Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck," released a video this week urging his fellow Americans to join t...
Actor Mark Ruffalo was one of an estimated 10,000 protesters who surrounded the White House on Sunday to fight the Keystone XL pipeline, telling HuffPost,...
By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service (RNS) Retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, fresh off his 80th birthday celebrations, is the subject of a new...
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, known for her role as Elaine on the popular sitcom "Seinfeld," has released a video urging President Obama to reject the permit for...
In a signal of what might lie ahead in the contentious battle over the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the company behind the proposed project, Calgary-based...
DENVER -- President Barack Obama urged thousands of enthusiastic college students Wednesday to make their voices heard, telling a boisterous crowd in Denver, "Young people,...
Here's a unique political strategy: in the lead up to an election, as anti-corporate sentiment sweeps the nation, give a huge handout to a major corporation that happens to be your biggest political enemy. Welcome to the Obama campaign.
I took a deep breath, stepped on the barrier and crossed over. We were on Parliament Hill to show our opposition to the extension of the Keystone Pipeline, which would take raw bitumen from the tar sands of Northern Alberta over prime farmland and the Ogallala Aquifer to a refinery in Texas.
The Keystone XL, as proposed, would run from Canada across the width of our country to Texas oil refineries and ports. It would carry diluted bitumen, a kind of crude oil, produced from the Alberta tar sands. I say this is a bad idea.
But before supporting the Keystone Pipeline, we need to take a deeper look at whether its practices will really lead to "better days" for working men and women, their families, and their communities. How many jobs will the pipeline really produce?
Big Oil wants to build a pipeline to send the dirtiest crude oil on the planet from the Boreal forests of Canada right through the heart of America, crossing the Yellowstone, the Missouri, the Platte and other treasured rivers on its way to Texas refineries.
The oil industry is pushing the Obama administration to approve a permit for TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline. Exploiting the full potential of Canada's tar sands, according to one scientist, could trigger the uncontrollable over-heating of our planet
If the Keystone Pipeline Project gains approval, it will become exceedingly difficult to control the tar sands monster. The scientific community needs to get involved in this fray now.
Next Sunday we'll be circling the White House with people -- a kind of ring-around-Obama designed to remind him that he has serious support for blocking the Keystone Pipeline.
America's political gridlock is harming U.S. living standards and job creation that indirectly hurts Canada because of the close economic partnership. More specifically, the Banana mentality is threatening Canada's critically important oil sands and the building of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline.
Tar Sands 101. Oil or tar sand is heavy/sour crude that is high in sulphur. We don't burn sour crude in this country. We export it to China and India where there are lax enviromental rules. The sulphur in sour crude comes back to the earth as acid rain, killing forests, streams, lakes, and rivers. (i.e. people) Also, the keystone pipeline will only employ 50 full time engineers. Cost/benefit ratio doesn't jive.
aforbes808: Tar Sands 101. Oil or tar sand is heavy/sour crude
New Mexico has tar sands.
They didn't extract the asphaltenes.
They mined the entire "tar sand" and built roads with it.
That was back in the 70s.
We were researching ways to use microbes in fermentation vats to break down the asphaltenes into pumpable oil. coal, oil, asphaltenes and natural gas is dead plants and animals.
WESmith: New Mexico has tar sands. They didn't extract the asphaltenes.
"We were researching ways to use microbes in fermentation vats to break down the asphaltenes into pumpable oil. coal, oil, asphaltenes and natural gas is dead plants and animals. "
What happened to the research?
artleads: "We were researching ways to use microbes in fermentation vats
Perhaps living out in California, he doesn't feel the need for heat in the winter time, maybe he rides a bicycle to work, and types on a computer keyboard carved out of ivory.
The rest of use use that commodity, and if we want to compete in this global economy, we'd better make the right decision on this one.
Andrew_Harvey: Perhaps living out in California, he doesn't feel the need
I live in Maine and have found multiple ways to reduce oil consumption to the absolute bare minimum. This project is not only insane environmentally, it is also a temporary fix. There are abundant ways to be warm, have a computer, drive a car, etc. without destroying the planet any more than we already have. The only reasons they haven't been employed is will and laziness and ignorance and...........shall I go on?
kay628: I live in Maine and have found multiple ways to
Another actor that has plenty of money that doesn't understand that more energy from North America means less Saudi controlled oil needed. It means that there will be another player in the world oil market and that means less control the Saudi's and others have over the price.
And it means jobs for Americans and if we'd get off our butts and develop the hundred years of resources we have we could drive energy prices down to where a poor family wouldn't have to rely on the government or a kerosene heater to keep warm. Less government money spent means less borrowed...but this actor only sees the one side of the story and he won't be sleeping in a cold house because he can't afford the price of heating oil this winter.
anniewheelr: Another actor that has plenty of money that doesn't understand
Do you know that all oil, no matter where it is found goes into a communal "vat" and is sold back to us by OPEC? So where is the economic advantage to destroying our environment when the actual American citizen will not gain anything financially...only the oil barons will get richer and give nothing back.
edejan: Do you know that all oil, no matter where it
Hollywood actors are as far removed the realities of life in this country as Kurdish rebels are. Why anyone would give any credence to what they think is hard to understand except that I guess the Left champions any one who says what they want to hea said.
banana_republican: Hollywood actors are as far removed the realities of life
Way to miss the point. How about reading up on the Keystone XL pipeline? After you know something about the subject, you might have something to contribute to the discussion.
girldog: Way to miss the point. How about reading up on
OT
ENGULFED: “High concentrations” of radiation hit US and Canada — Plume was rich in Cesium-137 and “close to the surface” from Vancouver southward — See also Hawaii, Florida (MAPS)
“Already on 15 March, a first isolated 133Xe cloud reached western North America, followed by the arrival of high concentrations of both 133Xe and 137Cs on 19 March.”
“The main part of the radioactive plume entered western North America on 17–18 March. On 18 March at 12:00UTC, the head of the plume had already arrived over the North Atlantic, but the main part was located over the eastern Pacific Ocean and western North America, where it could be detected at monitoring sites. This part of the plume was also rich in 137Cs, as it was still close to the surface south of 50 [Most of US/Canada border is 49°]. At the same time, the plume penetrated the subtropics and arrived at Hawaii on 19 March.”
“A map of the simulated surface concentrations of 133Xe for 22 March shows that all of western North America was engulfed by the FD-NPP plume, as well as parts of eastern North America and eastern Asia.” http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/11/28319/2011/acpd-11-28319-2011.html
MAP http://enenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/cs137_NA.jpg
WeMustDoBetter09: OT ENGULFED: “High concentrations” of radiation hit US and Canada
And so he has the wife leave on another plane to go on vacation rather than wait for him and share his ride....yep...he's the environmental President we all look up to....
anniewheelr: And so he has the wife leave on another plane
I stand with David and the over 1200 people who stood in protest at the White House in August protesting the Keystone XL and tar sand mining. Tar sands are end-to-end destruction. The Keystone XL pipeline threatens American farmers with a pipeline they don't want. Over 50 American farmers and ranchers are being attacked with eminent domain claims that will take their land from their without consent. This isn't right! All to allow TransCanada and other Canadian oil barons to exploit the international market for tar sand oil....it won't serve American jobs (less than 50 permanent jobs per Cornell University sutdy), it won't serve American oil independence (more than 75% of oil thru the KXL will be exported), and it won't help us start to heal the warming planet. James Hansen, leading climatologist and NASA scientist, says burning the tar sands would be essentially "game over" for our climate.
This pipeline is the worst idea ever!
JordanPerry: I stand with David and the over 1200 people who
Yes lets let the greastest country in the world go bankrupt. No jobs , no energy, no
industry just wide open spaces where we can all live in tents and search for food.
Sounds like a bright future doesn't it?
rtheryoung: Yes lets let the greastest country in the world go
A smart President would support a pipeline but to the Great Lakes (shorter trip) and develop our own tar sands and build our own pipeline to our refineries on the Gulf Coast. And you don't think that the tar sands elsewhere are going to be used? Do you believe that China isn't going to do whatever they have to do to continue to grow? We can do it and do it right...we can mediate the risks and develop new ways to clean up tar sand oil production.
50 farmers with eminent domain over how many thousands of miles? That doesn't seem a lot and some of them I've seen interviewed are second or third generation owners whose parents allowed other pipelines through their property with little or no problems. But they've been scared by the green machine rather than realizing that their parents and grandparents had it right that more oil and more money in their pockets is the way to go.
anniewheelr: A smart President would support a pipeline but to the
Annie, please provide reference for your suggestion that tar sand mining risks can be mitigated. Also, eminent domain is the forcible taking of one's land by the government. Your suggestion that these 50 are methmatically insignificant is an ugly statement. I'm sure you'd say that 50 cancer deaths in a city with thousands (like is happening in small towns around the tar sands mine) is also insignificant?
Lastly, this pipeline is unlike any pipeline in history. Yes, you are right that thousands of miles of pipelines criss cross these states already. All of them have leaked. All of them have scarred the land. But none of them before pumped 900k barrels a day of heavy, dirty, tar like "oil" that's been heated and pressurized in order to be forced along the route. How thick is the material? There are pumping stations an acre in size every 50 miles (wow, that's not your Mother's pipeline!). These stations have 10k horsepower engines that repressurize the tar for another 50 miles. Experts agree that a single fault could dump 8 million barrels of dirty tar sand oil into the Ogallala Aquifer. This aquifer provided 30% of the US groundwater for irrigation and fresh drinking water for 82% of the people who live in the enormous boundary of the aquifer.
In the old days, Annie, your comments might have held up. But it's time to leave the soundbites and simple rationalizations behind. This is a crime against humanity and must be stopped.
JordanPerry: Annie, please provide reference for your suggestion that tar sand
Amen!! Fanned for wanting to do do WAY better!!! China is laughing all the way to the bank as we push back on a energy policy. These prehistoric fuels have to go. It's the 21st Century for goodness sake. :)
Texas13: Amen!! Fanned for wanting to do do WAY better!!! China
They will go in about 50 years Texas. you do realize we have about 200 million vehicles in the US alone that run on this prehistoric stuff to start with. I`m all for new fuels but show me what we are going to do now.
daultman463: They will go in about 50 years Texas. you do
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First Posted: 10/28/11 02:13 PM ET Updated: 10/28/11 02:17 PM ET