On February 17, a number of SSR members took the ferry into S.F. to join the giant crowd staging the Bay Area branch of the nationwide “Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline” rally organized by Bill McKibbon’s 350.org. You can see more pictures of SSR’s presence at the rally here.
The idea that President Obama could actually reject KXL is still very much a long shot (see below), but at least the news coverage is starting to include the arguments against this terrible project and the fact that a large bloc of his supporters are dead set against it. Here’s how USA Today covered the rally, including video of Bill McKibbon. And here’s the extensive rally coverage from Truthout. And, the the rally prompted PBS News Hour to air a feature story on the pipeline debate,
Amy Goodman at Democracy Now, provided extensive video coverage of the Washington rally, which you can watch here. In that broadcast, Van Jones, President Obama’s former Green Jobs advisor, aptly summarized why so many people turned out . . . here . . in Washington . . . all over the country.
VAN JONES: Well, this is it. This is the last minute in the last quarter of the biggest most important game humanity has ever played. This is it. One thing I know having worked in this town, is the simple maxim: if you don’t fight for what you want, you deserve what you get. I had the honor of working for this president, and I want to direct my message to him. President Obama, all the good that you have done, all the good you can imagine doing will be wiped out, wiped out by floods, by fires, by superstorms if you fail to act now to deal with this crisis that is a gun pointed at the head of the future. Everything you have done. History will judge you 20 years from now based on one decision alone. That decision is not in the hands of the congress. That decision is not in the hands of any governors. That decision is not in the hands of any mayors or any dogcatchers. The decision is in your hands, Mr. President, your hands. Your hands. The decision to let this pipeline come through America is the most fateful decision you’ll ever make, Mr. President. It would be like jabbing a dirty needle into this country from Canada. It would be like lighting a fuse on a carbon bomb. And you cannot allow that to happen. If the pipeline goes through, Mr. President, the first thing it runs over will not be farmland. The first thing it runs over will not be small towns. If you let this pipeline go through, Mr. President, the first thing it runs over is the credibility of the President of the United States of America. That is the first thing it runs over.
Informed sources speculate President Obama is likely to approve the pipeline while linking it to various climate measures meant to deflect dismay of pipeline opponents. That means redoubled pressure on the White House is needed. Voice opposition to the pipeline NOW by e-mail, website petitions, telephone calls, letters. Spread the word on social media:
- Here’s a prototype letter to the President or anyone else in Washington on Climate Action and the horrors of the XL Pipeline. This will download a MS Word (.doc) letter you can edit and send. If it doesn’t automatically open on-screen look for it in your browser’s “downloads” file.
- Here are key talking points on climate change
- And/or, Sign this online letter urging President Obama to take “strong, decisive action on climate and reject the Keystone XL pipeline.
- Here’s the Facebook page to express your opposition to the pipeline
- Will you email President Obama today? Here’s a link right to the White House where you can tell the President NO!
Secretary John Kerry, President Barack Obama: It’s impossible to fight climate change while simultaneously investing in the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive fossil fuels on the planet. The administration’s bold advances in clean energy and vehicle efficiency have been critical, but much of that progress — and the credit that comes with it — will be erased if we also develop the tar sands.
The Keystone XL Pipeline will facilitate and “explode” this development capacity.
We implore you both: STOP THIS ABOMINATION. this is not a recalcitrant congress and a fiscal cliff or sequester. this is the future of our planet and all the children of all species now and into the future. this is the climate cliff and if we go over it, it will be on your heads.
Stop the KXL Pipeline, once and for all. Canada will get over it. If you don’t, none of us will. Thank you.