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Despite Top 5 Reasons to Oppose Tar Sands, Bill Passes
By Sierra Club
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Read this blog post on the originating site
Even though a coalition of groups including the Sierra Club sending a letter to House reps urging them to oppose Representatives Lee Terry and Gene Green’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline bill (HR 1938), the measure just passed today in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The bill would expedite the approval of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, which is currently under consideration by the Department of State for a Presidential Permit. Today’s vote to reward polluters came amid reports of a dozen spills and pipeline accidents by TransCanada in just the last year.
“Hurrying to grant TransCanada yet another, even larger pipeline into our nation’s Heartland makes no sense and only serves to reward corporate polluters’ reckless behavior,” said Kate Colarulli, Associate Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Oil campaign.
“There is no upside to Keystone XL. The proposed toxic tar sands pipeline would run through six states in the Midwest and endanger the drinking and irrigation water supplies of farmlands and millions of families. What’s more, this massive dirty energy project would raise gas prices and allow Canada to use American resources and ports to export their dirty fuels.”
And just in case you needed more reasons to oppose this bill that would hand TransCanada its Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on a silver platter, then do read these
Top Five Reasons to Oppose HR 1938:
- Tar sands pipelines are not safe.
- The Keystone XL pipeline will raise gas prices.
- Studies show that the Keystone XL will not lead to energy security nor increase oil supply to the U.S.
- The jobs numbers don’t add up.
- H.R. 1938 rushes to lock us into the most destructive oil on the planet.
There are more details on each of these reasons right here in this fact sheet (DOC) from our friends at NWF.
Meanwhile, there’s some big time news in the works regarding opposition to this proposed tar sands oil pipeline…Want to hang out with Danny Glover, James Hansen, Bill McKibben and some other heavyweights? Maybe we should clarify – are you interested in getting arrested with some celebrities? Those three and many others are encouraging volunteers to come to Washington, DC, to participate in civil disobedience regarding the U.S. State Department’s on-going review of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline.
Bill McKibben sent out the letter Wednesday, and here’s an excerpt (read the full text in this article):
(W)e’re pretty sure that without serious pressure the Keystone Pipeline will get its permit from Washington. A wonderful coalition of environmental groups has built a strong campaign across the continent – from Cree and Dene indigenous leaders to Nebraska farmers, they’ve spoken out strongly against the destruction of their land. We need to join them, and to say even if our own homes won’t be crossed by this pipeline, our joint home – the earth – will be wrecked by the carbon that pours down it.
And we need to say something else, too: it’s time to stop letting corporate power make the most important decisions our planet faces.
We don’t have the money to compete with those corporations, but we do have our bodies, and beginning in mid August many of us will use them. We will, each day through Labor Day, march on the White House, risking arrest with our trespass. We will do it in dignified fashion, demonstrating that in this case we are the conservatives, and that our foes – who would change the composition of the atmosphere are dangerous radicals.
The opposition to tar sands and this proposed pipeline is increasing nationwide. Not only did hundreds of thousands of Americans send in comments to the State Department against Keystone XL, corporations are joining the mix. Earlier this month grocery chain Trader Joe’s joined “a growing number of major U.S. companies taking action to reduce or eliminate Canada’s Tar Sands from their transportation footprints.”
You can join the fight against tar sands – learn more on the Sierra Club’s Dirty Fuels Campaign website.
Tagged with: keystone xl, transcanada, pipeline, sierra club
