Hundreds of events are planned around the country this weekend for a national day of action to "Draw the Line" on tar sands, Keystone XL, and other extreme energy projects that are driving the climate crisis.
The rallies, which span nearly all fifty states, are another sign that as President Obama considers Keystone XL's final fate, opposition to the pipeline has only continued to grow.
In Nebraska, the heart of Keystone XL resistance, pipeline fighters are hard at work putting up a renewable energy powered barn - directly in the path of the pipeline. The barn will serve as a center of ongoing pipeline resistance, as well as a tangible example of the type of clean energy future we're working for. If Keystone XL ever does get approved, they'll have to bulldoze that future down to build it.
The Nebraska barn raising is just one of the over 200 "Draw the Line" actions planned for this Saturday. In New York City, activists and artists dressed in blue will gather in Battery Park and create a virtual storm surge to literally draw the line of where sea levels could rise if projects like the tar sands continue and climate change is left unchecked.
In New Orleans, 350 NOLA and the Tulane Green Club are drawing a "second line for climate justice" with a marching band and second line parade that will protest the fossil fuel industry's recklessness, from the BP Oil Spill to Keystone XL.
In Seattle, 350.org founder Bill McKibben will join with Mayor Mike McGinn and Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica for a day of workshops and a rally to protest Keystone XL and other major carbon intensive projects, such as the proposed coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest.
In Detroit, local residents will march and cycle to the Marathon tar sands refinery to protest against further tar sands refinery and the pollution the refinery is causing in their community.
The list goes on and on. You can find an event in your community or start your own - it's not too late to pull a quick creative action together - by clicking here.
Meanwhile, our partners CREDO Mobile, the Other 98% and Rainforest Action Network have collected pledges from over 75,000 people who are willing to risk arrest to stop the pipeline and they've begun to make good on that promise with direct actions in Chicago, Houston, and Washington, DC.
Last February, over 40,000 of us descended on Washington, DC for the largest climate rally in the nation's history, Forward on Climate, to push the President to say no to Keystone XL and embrace a clean energy future. Since then, pipeline protestors have met President Obama and Secretary Kerry at nearly every public appearance they've made.
The fight against Keystone XL has always been about more than just a pipeline. It's about the future of energy here in North America. It's about forcing our politicians to stand on the side of the people and stand up to Big Oil. It's about testing whether President Obama can live up to his rhetoric and help "end the tyranny of oil" and address the climate crisis. It's about standing up to environmental injustice everywhere, from people fighting fracking in New York to communities fighting refineries in Texas. And it's about building a powerful climate movement here in the United States, in Canada, and around the world.
That movement will be on display this weekend. Come be a part of it.