Tar Sands Action Responds To Obama's Keystone Pipeline Comments

Earlier this week, President Obama said in a television interview with Nebraska's KETV that he will be the one making the decision on the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada.

Politico reports that while the State Department was originally expected to make the decision (on a pipeline that will be crossing an international border), they will instead be delivering recommendations to the president.

Obama told KETV's Rob McCartney, "We need to encourage domestic oil and natural gas production. We need to make sure that we have energy security and aren't just relying on Middle East sources. But there's a way of doing that and still making sure that the health and safety of the American people and folks in Nebraska are protected, and that's how I'll be measuring these recommendations when they come to me."

Reuters reported that Obama specifically addressed environmental concerns in his statements and assured the public they will factor into his decision. He said, "I think folks in Nebraska, like all across the country, aren't going to say to themselves, 'we'll take a few thousand jobs' if it means that our kids are potentially drinking water that would damage their health or if ... rich land that is so important to agriculture in Nebraska ends up being adversely affected."

Environmentalist Bill McKibben's organization, Tar Sands Action, has since responded to Obama's comments.

McKibben wrote that it is "very good to see the President taking full ownership of this decision and indicating that the environment will be the top priority going forward."

He added, "Of course, it's not just people in Nebraska that are upset about this project. People from all 50 states were arrested in Washington this August protesting the pipeline and they will be coming back to the White House this Sunday because this pipeline is also a conduit for climate change."

Tar Sands Action is known for its August sit-in in front of the White House that resulted in the arrest of over 1,200 Americans. On November 6, members of the Tar Sands Action group and other concerned citizens plan to return to Washington, D.C. to circle the White House in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline.

To read a full transcript of Obama's recent comments on the Keystone Pipeline, click here.

Click through the slideshow below to view prominent individuals who have spoken out against the pipeline:

Comments

[plaidsportcoat]

04:11 PM on 11/07/2011

DeMAND Obama makes a decision BEFORE the election if he wants your vote.

[rr52]

04:08 PM on 11/03/2011

Getting ready to do a major blog about XL pipeline. Did enough research from reputable sources and financials that show this is a CHINA deal.

China invested billions in Canada's tar sands project but hard pressed to get it to Asia. Enter the U.S. who figures it can sell the pipeline on false promise of overinflated jobs, and lower gas prices. Pipeliners 798 hands will be the only big buck jobs on this and temporary. I’ve heard nothing about royalties to the states that have the pipeline but who will absorb the cost of any leaks, and the stuff will be shipped to the west coast pronto and onto Asia. No cheaper gas prices, no residual jobs. Canada profits, U.S. oil profits, the U.S. doesn't use the stuff so still appears to be greener than China. China gives everyone the finger as usual and does what it wants. All of us LOSE in the end because the tar sand burns far dirtier and air tends to move. Just ask the Japanese

I've been sayin learn to speak Chinese for years but things are moving decidedly fast now. China has just made a deal with Bolivia and Australia for natural gas, and its activities in Africa goes without saying. China is diversified, however, they also have green projects in the works too like hydropower in the Cameroon. Baoding is a model green city. Problem is the tar sands will last a decade and promote more of the same.

[Nebska]

01:42 PM on 11/03/2011

The impartiality of the US State Department has been called into question because of their choice of company to do the environmental impact statement. Cardno/Entrix, lists Transcanada as a customer on its website. There are also records of very friendly pro-Transcanada emails from the State Dept to Transcanada lobbyists. Mrs. Clinton is also on record from several months ago saying she was leaning toward approval. I don't know how President Obama taking over the responsibility for the decision makes the EIS (which some local geologists are calling "garbage") any better but I do know Nebraska Republican leadership on all levels have been trying everything to make sure the Xl goes through by default.

[johnfnlennon]

01:18 PM on 11/03/2011

Oil.... Natural ,Organic, and Bio-degradable. An enviromentalist dream. Solar panels...Manmade. Synthetic. Not biodegradable. Only someone looking to make a buck with a total disreguard for the environment would promote these.

[Nebska]

01:46 PM on 11/03/2011

What we're doing is taking carbon out of the ground and putting that carbon into the air and killing ourselves and the planet in the process. We need to be investing in other energies. Nebraska is ranked 6th in wind energy potential but we are no where close to harvesting wind potential here and part of the blame is the Fed's perceived on-again-off-again love i.e. financial breaks for renewables.

[johnfnlennon]

02:03 PM on 11/03/2011

Killing the planet, huh? Would you be in the market for some land in Fl.?

[Lizziedukes]

05:38 PM on 11/05/2011

Big oil will not allow wind energy, or any alternative to oil.

[nomadrdw]

03:00 PM on 11/03/2011

and totally toxic to life on the surface of this planet. see, that is why nature buried it so deeply that only some insane effort can bring it back to the surface.it can take decades and decades for it to break down and in some places, it NEVER does, so much for biodegradable. it produces even more poisons as we burn it, releasing acid into the air(sulphuric acid,) and mercury that mutates and destroys the nervous system, not to mention the people that is kills in its retrieval.
only someone with a total disregard for nature would destroy so totally the balance of nature that has been going on for billions of years on this planet.

[Ginger Naylor]

01:03 PM on 11/03/2011

Well, until they come up with lower costs for solar panels and offer a free holding battery, then I guess we'll all have to keep relying on fossil fuels. After being left without any electric these past 5 days due to the snow storm that came through this eastern part of the USA, I said to my husband "well I guess all THOSE people (referring to the homes we passed that had solar panels all over their property and on their house and free standing on the hills) are nice and warm, eh? " and my husband told me that those panels are only good when the sun shines. They're without when the sun goes down. So - fossil fuel.

[afgan irakson]

11:48 AM on 11/03/2011

everybody knows what meter on Obama's bed will disclose...

[Contact MyBKTeam]

12:50 PM on 11/03/2011

What???

[Martin Miller]

11:26 AM on 11/03/2011

Oh, when they said "full ownership" I thought he was going to take responsibility for Solyndra as he should.

[tyour]

12:11 PM on 11/03/2011

No, the Bush adminstration set this up including and the people sitting on the panel trying to make political points voted for it.

[Contact MyBKTeam]

12:51 PM on 11/03/2011

What are you talking about? Please quit posting nonsense. Solyndra has nothing to do with this topic...stay on point. besides Solyndra was an investment....only 1% of that business investment went bad. If you know anything about business, it's not a bad return on the total money invested.

[Meltdown71]

12:57 PM on 11/03/2011

The topic is...BRING DOWN OBAMA

[Bridget Guzzi]

11:24 AM on 11/03/2011

There will be no turning back if this pipeline goes through. All clean initiatives will go to the back burner, initiatives that can create real jobs and a healthy environment. Environmental disasters will start and never end, creating dangers beyond our comprehension. This is filthy! Keystone is wrong on every level. This country is being pushed around and bullied. We are much better than this. I will continue to stand against this and pray, yes I am actually praying, that this is STOPPED in its tracks.

[altsc22]

01:29 PM on 11/03/2011

O get over yourself!!!

[vetxcl]

07:11 PM on 11/04/2011

Not once did the individual mention herself. Maybe you need to get over your employer's propaganda.

[Lizziedukes]

05:41 PM on 11/05/2011

Nov. 6 surround the White house, 2:00

[janjamm]

09:29 AM on 11/03/2011

Another thought: We should be ridiculing the people of Alberta for being such fools, because they’re getting almost nothing out of the Tar Sand deals. Oh, and actually it’s mostly lands that were given to first nations through treaties many years ago, which means the Provincial and Federal Canadian governments are also shredding their treaty obligations in the rush to hand over the exploitation rights in a massive fire sale.

So the only way to leave fossil fuels in the ground is for governments to set a very high price on exploitation rights, so that every other avenue for energy development gets developed first. At the moment the profits are way too high for anyone to resist the party. Which by the way, connects the fight over the pipeline with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Because, ALERT!!, it isn’t the 99% who are going to benefit from these massive windfall profits.

[Contact MyBKTeam]

12:52 PM on 11/03/2011

Yeah that's what we do "ridicule" our neighbors, that ought to work well right?

[vetxcl]

07:11 PM on 11/04/2011

Isn't that what you're starting to do?

[janjamm]

09:16 AM on 11/03/2011

The Cornell Global Labor Institute (who likes job creation!) determined that the pipeline may ultimately have a negative effect on employment. http://bit.ly/rEkrS9

Add to that the catastrophic consequences of more spills (there have already been dozens on the first leg of the pipe, and don't forget the Enbridge "spill" into the Kalamazoo River where cleanup is now pushing $700 million, paid by taxpayers, not Enbridge. So how is this helping the American economy?) and you have to really think about the larger picture. Here's what has "spilled" so far in the US. http://nyti.ms/seECrK The petroleum industry ALWAYS concludes that EVERYTHING they do is safe. We know this is far from the truth.

If the reason to put our land, air and water in serious jeopardy is the need for jobs, consider that the billions of dollars in cleanup costs ALONE across the United States could have been used for thousands of better causes and put toward schooling and creating the jobs of the future. This ongoing petroleum boondogle is helping little, while producing historic profits for big oil and gas.

[JoeTheProgrammer]

09:14 AM on 11/03/2011

"Conduit for climate change"?

It's a conduit for cheaper fuel and less reliance on middle eastern oil. Which we need.

[KarlaElisa]

11:11 AM on 11/03/2011

no, it's not. it's a blank check for transcanada to have their way with our land, further amp up environmental devastation that is bound to occur and the oil will be shipped out and put on the market. transcanada will get rich and the rest of us will pay dearly.

[WeMustDoBetter09]

11:25 AM on 11/03/2011

So true KE.
Profit over LIVES:
That's the American Way!
Planet Destruction for MONEY.
Been going on for thousands of years but it's getting to a breaking point.
1492 - great new book explains it all in great detail
FF

[Martin Miller]

11:31 AM on 11/03/2011

I tend to agree with you to a certain extent, we need the oil. But, any citizens or any states that are trans-versed by this company need to be reimbursed and paid for this action. Alaska pays its citizens for oil contracts. If this is approved than the wealth needs to shared with the people.

[olitenup]

12:19 PM on 11/03/2011

The Koch brother are a huge piece of this project...they are NOT into sharing their wealth.

[mccglf]

08:18 AM on 11/03/2011

Thinking we can do this with wind and solar is silly. Getting off fossil fuels is a noble goal, but it will take decades. Solar is not economically feasible and not practical in most areas of the country. Wind is not reliable. People want less fossil fuels but they oppose windmills, nuke plants or anything in their own back yards. For the time being, nat gas is probably the best alternative, but it comes at a cost, as everything does. We have been in a war in the Middle East for a decade because we cannot get off imported oil. Carefully regulated oil and gas development in the US seems to be the least ugly dog in the ugly dog show for the near future. Everything carries risk...we just need to minimize the risk.

[WeMustDoBetter09]

08:51 AM on 11/03/2011

Baloney
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19295/
Wind, Solar and Ocean Currents
Put them all together and can stop our dependency on NUCLEAR.
Water run cars are right around the corner too.

[WeMustDoBetter09]

09:20 AM on 11/03/2011

JAPANESE WATER POWERED CAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrxfMz2eDME
Oil companies didn't like that...

[WeMustDoBetter09]

09:44 AM on 11/03/2011

I replied to you but it never showed.
Harvesting Power from the Ocean
A new technology could generate electricity from waves.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19295/
Point being (minus water car)
Put Solar, Wind and Ocean Currents together...Walla!
NO MORE NUKES

[Doug350]

08:13 AM on 11/03/2011

‎"If the Keystone XL pipeline is built, it surely smooths the way for further expansions of the market for oil sands crude.

"Turning down XL, in contrast, draws a line in the oil sands, and affirms the principle that this carbon shall not pass into the atmosphere."

http://bit.ly/XLRealClimate1

EVERYBODY = REMEMBER TO DO SOMETHING EVERY DAY

1) COPY & PASTE this entirely into your Facebook STATUS
2) WATCH Bill McKibben on http://bit.ly/StopThePipeline
3) CALL 202-456-1111 & tell Obama VETO KeystoneXL
4) TELL Obama to VETO http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
5) WRITE to President Barack Obama, The White House
. . 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500
6) WATCH & SHARE Harriet's song http://bit.ly/NoTarsands
. . Harriet was arrested at TarsandsAction on her 65th bday

UNTIL PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS "NO KEYSTONE XL"
UNTIL PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS "NO TARSANDS OIL"

[Michael D Ballantine]

05:53 AM on 11/03/2011

Are we holding our breath? What is the President going to do, cancel the pipeline. Why not build an oil refinery in Detroit? They need jobs there and the pipeline would not have to go across America. Seems to be no matter where the pipeline goes people are going to be angry.

[vetxcl]

07:19 PM on 11/04/2011

He's going to get it built. He's already hired a former lobbyist that worked for the Canadian company. It's as you say, another NIMBY problem. Money talks, and incumbents listen.

[Michael D Ballantine]

08:15 PM on 11/04/2011

Then we need a court injunction to stop it until a proper environmental survey can be completed. The fact that the State Department is overseeing it does not excuse it from DER regulations. If we can stop it for one year, the next President can take over and fix this problem.

[Chase Price]

05:01 AM on 11/03/2011

I'm going to have to say no to this pipeline.

[KarlaElisa]

11:13 AM on 11/03/2011

No is also my vote. I don't want it 're-routed'. I want the whole idea scrapped. But I seldom get my way.

[ontariogirl]

12:02 PM on 11/04/2011

I'm voting no as well. Lets just hope we get our way this time.

[vetxcl]

07:17 PM on 11/04/2011

Not something we really get to vote on until 2012.