By Today, you made history.
After a seven-year fight, President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline once and for all.1 It’s you—and the rest of the movement — that we have to thank for this historic achievement.
From engaging in civil disobedience, to hosting vigils, to gathering petition signatures—you made today’s victory possible. There will be many more battles to fight in the struggle against climate change. But for now, let’s take a moment to celebrate.
Will you organize or attend a Keystone XL rejection rally near you?
Today marks the beginning of a new paradigm: the president of the United States affirmed that the only way to stop the worst impacts of climate change is to leave fossil fuels in the ground. If Keystone XL had been fully built, it would have carried 800,000 barrels a day of toxic tar sands bitumen from the oil sands fields of Alberta, Canada, across our entire country. President Obama vowed that the pipeline wouldn’t be built if it it added significantly to the problem of climate change. The evidence clearly showed that the pipeline would be “game over” for the climate. In the end—after all your work raising the stakes for his decision — the president did the right thing.
This is a historic moment for the climate and for the environmental movement. This week’s rejection rallies are a chance to come together and celebrate. They’re also a chance to reflect on what we’ve achieved, and to start planning for what comes next in the fight against climate-killing fossil fuels. Next Monday, November 9, organize or join a KXL rejection rally near you!
For years, insiders predicted that Keystone’s approval was a done deal. In the end, they said, Keystone would be business as usual, one more piece of fossil fuel infrastructure rubber-stamped by a compliant administration, another item successfully checked off the oil lobby’s to-do list.
But you took action, and proved them wrong. For the last seven years, Keystone XL has been about power: people power vs. the power of Big Oil. Today, people power won.
Years of hard work by activists across the continent stopped this pipeline from being completed. The movement brought us to this point, and it’s time for the movement to party. Because without your commitment, without your passion, this would not have happened. Join us next Monday, November 9, at a KXL rejection rally near you.
Decades from now, when we’ve successfully stabilized the climate, we’ll look back on today, the day that President Obama rejected the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline, as a historic turning point. There will be more to do: more fights to protect forests, communities and the climate. But for now, let’s mark the occasion—and prepare to escalate our campaigns to keep all dangerous fossil fuels in the ground. Join us on Monday, November 9, to celebrate the rejection of Keystone XL once and for all.
P.S. The seven-year-long fight against Keystone was an epic struggle, with twists, turns and a million heroes. We’ve pulled together a quick look back, When We Fight, We Win: A Timeline to Victory on the KXL Pipeline. Check it out!
References:
1. “Obama Expected to Reject Construction of Keystone XL Oil Pipeline,” November 6, 2015, Coral Davenport, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/07/us/obama-expected-to-reject-construction-of-keystone-xl-oil-pipeline.html