People from across the nation have come together in their opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline for dirty tar sands oil. Over the course of just 24 hours, Americans sent more than 800,000 messages to their senators condemning an effort to revive this dirty tar sands pipeline.
NRDC and our partners launched the campaign with the goal of encouraging people to send 500,000 messages. But we blew past that target within six hours. Clearly opposition to the Keystone XL project runs deep and wide.
For months, ranchers, farmers, businesspeople, religious leaders, union members, and youth groups fought this tar sands pipeline. Last month, President Obama rejected it because of the serious environmental and public safety risks it posed to Heartland communities.
But oil companies couldn't accept defeat. They teamed up with Republicans in Congress to draft a provision that would allow the Senate to undo the president's decision.
The House is already rushing through a bill that would force approval of the pipeline in 30 days. That bill has been approved in committee and proposed as an amendment to the transportation bill. When we heard that Senate Republicans were preparing to put a similar measure in its version of the transportation bill, we decided to rally the troops.
We knew lawmakers had gotten an earful from deep-pocketed and well-placed oil lobbyists. It was time they heard directly from the American people. Together with our partner groups, we took to the blogosphere, Twitter feeds, and Facebook to encourage people to write to their senators.
We reminded our leaders that a project which would accelerate climate change, endanger precious water resources, threaten communities with hazardous spills, and facilitate the export of tar sands oil to other countries is not in America's national interest.
On Tuesday, we delivered the messages to Capitol Hill. They were our valentine's to the clean, sustainable energy future we want to give our children.
Bill Chameides: Surviving the Slings and Arrows of Climate Change
Daniel J. Graeber: Why Is There so Much Political Energy Behind Solar Power?
Bill McKibben: Over 600,000 Messages Against Keystone XL Flood the Senate
Robert Redford: 24 Hours to Stop the Pipeline - Be the Solution
GOP tries to advance Keystone XL pipeline project - Los Angeles ...
NRDC: Press Release - Dangerous Republican Keystone XL ...
For G.O.P., Pipeline Is Central to Agenda - NYTimes.com
Republicans Advance Bill to Push Keystone XL Over Obama's ...
They come loaded with stuff that can destroy a few cities.
And people are worried about oil?
Truth be told tar sand petroleum will find its way into the world market one way or another.
You have an interesting point. I'd be interested to know more about the health hazards involved for humans. Particularly that piece on the Inuit people starting to develop some rather undesirable conditions. Can you show us where that information might be?
That's impressive!
How do they do it?
Do any of these enviro. groups realize how may miles of pipelines run through this area already?
It would have created a polluted mess, few jobs created, the oil would not be sold in the USA and the only entity that would get benefit would be our lovely, tax payer subsidized oil companies that appear to be doing fine, financaily.
also no canadian oil is sold on the world market because it's all sold at artificially depressed WTI prices.
refined products are sold on the world market. much different.