Thousands Participate in Nationwide Vigils
CONTACT: Blair Fitzgibbon, 202-503-6141
Washington, DC – Thousands of activists held more than 270 vigils urging President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline following the release of the State Department’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. The Keystone XL pipeline will be a huge source of climate pollution and clearly fails the climate test set by President Obama.
CREDO, the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network and 350.org, among a host of other groups, organized the vigils following the State Department’s release of the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on Friday. Protests across the country, including major events in Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago and San Francisco, included thousands of demonstrators urging the president to keep his word in the fight against climate change and reject the controversial pipeline.
“Thousands of activists across the country are reminding President Obama that the pipeline clearly fails the climate test he set,” said Elijah Zarlin, Senior Campaign Manager at CREDO. “These people want to do everything they can to help the president make strides to fight climate change in his second term – what he can accomplish all comes down to his decision on Keystone XL.”
“This evening, thousands of Americans gather in 48 states to call on the president to reject this tar sands pipeline,” said Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director. “This amazing public reaction came together in less than 72 hours because Americans across the nation want the president to hear it again, loud and clear: It’s time to move forward on clean energy.”
“Thousands of people from all walks of life are taking to the streets en masse to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline in more than 270 cities and towns across the country,” said Amanda Starbuck, Climate Program Director for Rainforest Action Network. “The numbers of people taking time out of their lives to demonstrate their personal opposition to Keystone XL displays the strength of our shared conviction to protect our highest national interest, a stable climate.”
“No environmental issue in decades has brought, and continues to bring, Americans into the streets in such large numbers,” said Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org. “That’s because scientists have long since concluded that the Keystone XL pipeline is disastrous policy, and because we continue to hope we can somehow persuade our oil-addled government of the same.”
Keystone XL is a tar sands pipeline that would transport some of the dirtiest crude oil on the planet from Alberta Canada, and across American soil for export. The vigils are part of a nationwide campaign to try and stop the pipeline from ruining the climate and endangering communities along the proposed pipeline route.
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