For seven long years, everyday people in Canada, the United States and other parts of the world have fought to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. When this struggle started, Keystone XL was considered a “done deal” by political insiders in Washington DC. But the tenacity of people like you created a momentum that shifted political will in the corridors of power and undermined the assumed inevitability of Big Oil’s latest pet project.
Now, more than ever, we’re getting very close to a day of reckoning.
Tell President Obama: It’s past time to reject Keystone XL.
In the past month, we’ve seen:
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Top Democratic presidential contender and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who at one time said she was “inclined to approve,” come out in opposition to this monstrous project.1
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Pro-Keystone XL and anti-environmental Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper be swept out of office by an electoral landslide.2
This is the work of Indigenous resistance from Alberta to Texas, Nebraska landowners, tree-sitters in East Texas and millions of us who’ve done everything from gathering petition signatures to attending #NOKXL vigils to joining the Pledge of Resistance.
Tell President Obama: It’s past time to reject Keystone XL.
We’re on the cusp. But President Obama still needs to hear from us. Now is the critical window for the president to act:
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The newly elected prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, is scheduled to form his government next Wednesday, November 4th. Trudeau has said he wants to see Keystone XL built and has called for a deal with the United States. Now is the moment for Obama to reject Keystone XL, before another Canadian leader digs in on the pipeline.3
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Elected officials from around the world are gathering in Paris on November 30th to agree on a global climate agreement. If President Obama wants to send a clear message to the rest of the world that the United States is serious on climate, he must reject the Keystone XL pipeline.4
This fight is in the home stretch, but it’s not over. We’ve faced down the overwhelming odds put on us by media pundits, DC politicians and corporate lobbyists. We’ve voted, gathered signatures, marched and sat in. The Keystone XL pipeline not only threatens us with tar sands spills, dire impacts on public health and catastrophic climate change, it also represents the people vs. Big Oil. We now know that when we fight, we win. Now we need to fight just a little harder to close the book on the Keystone XL pipeline.
Tell President Obama: It’s past time to reject Keystone XL.
Sources:
1. “How Hillary Clinton Got to ‘No’ on Keystone”, Zoë Carpenter, The Nation, September 23, 2015
http://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-keystone/
2. “Canadians oust Keystone champion,” Elana Schor, Politico, October 19, 2015
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/canada-elections-2015-keystone-xl-obama-214940#ixzz3q5ak24QA
3. “In Canada, Harper’s out, but the Keystone pipeline may not be”, Peter Thomson, The World, October 20, 2015
http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-10-20/canada-harpers-out-keystone-pipeline-may-not-be
4. “Keystone XL: The gap between no and ‘inevitable’”, Paul Haavardsrud, CBC News, October 2, 2015
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/keystone-xl-the-gap-between-no-and-inevitable-1.3253208
