This post was written by CCAN Communications Fellow Annie Mackin.
Superstorm Sandy. Drought. Raging wildfires. It’s time to act on climate change, and President Obama knows it. During his second inaugural speech, he admitted that “failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.”
The Keystone XL pipeline is a turning point in our national and global approach to climate change, and because it rests completely in Obama’s hands, it’s his chance to act. Will he green-light the project, and watch as it kick-starts the tar sands industry, sending us backwards into years more of dependence on fossil fuels? Or will he decide that it’s time to move forward, and reject it? We’re taking part in the largest climate rally in U.S. history on February 17 on the National Mall to tell the president what he needs to hear: Now is the time to move #ForwardOnClimate.
CCAN has been standing up to the pipeline plans for a long time – from joining 12,000 others in a circle around the White House in November 2011, to carrying a giant “No KXL” pipeline around the White House the week after this year’s election, to getting arrested in front of the White House in August 2011, we’ve always been willing to do what it takes to make our voices heard, especially here in the nation’s capital. Now we’re joining with 350.org and thousands of others from all over the country to make climate history. Will we go backwards on climate, or will we go forward? Right now, that’s for the President to decide. Click here to join CCAN on February 17 for the rally!
Tar sands operations, which have been called “the most environmentally destructive project on earth,” are a dirty business. Extracting oil from underneath Alberta’s forests requires massive amounts of water and energy, and emissions that stem from extracting and upgrading the sands are 3 to 4.5 times higher than the equivalent emissions from conventional oil produced in North America – and that’s even before burning it. For more information, check out this report.
The nation’s top climate scientists sent the president a letter, reminding him of what’s at stake in his decision: Keystone XL isn’t just important for the inherent dirty nature of the specific project, but for the kick-start it will give to the entire tar sands industry, setting us up for years more of dependence on dirty fuels.
As we speak, TransCanada is moving forward with sections of pipeline in Texas and Oklahoma – and our friends the Tar Sands Blockade are still standing in the way. It’s our job to bring that conversation to the President’s doorstep.
Blocking the Keystone XL expansion is the first step President Obama can take to make good on his climate promises. But there’s much more he can and should do during his second term, including limiting carbon pollution from our nation’s dirty power plants, moving beyond coal and natural gas, and firing up our clean energy economy with utility-scale wind and solar projects.
With the extreme weather of the past year, and temperatures breaking records all the time, the last thing we can afford to do is open a new door for dirty fuels. It’s time to move #ForwardOnClimate. Maybe you hadn’t heard of the rally yet – consider yourself invited. Maybe you went to a 350.org Do The Math event, but are still looking for ways to get involved – here’s your chance. Or maybe you’ve just noticed the increasingly unpredictable weather we’ve seen year round, in all parts of the country, and worry what those storms will look like for your own children. Whatever your reason, Click here to join CCAN on February 17 for the rally!
