Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline under GOP Deadline, But Opponents Prepare for Long-Term Fight
The Obama administration has rejected the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline that would stretch from the Alberta tar sands to the Gulf Coast. On Wednesday, President Obama said he was turning down TransCanada’s application for the pipeline because there was not enough time to review an alternate route that would avoid the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska. Obama had tried to delay a decision until next year, but Republicans responded by passing legislation forcing a decision by the end of February. Environmental groups have hailed the permit’s rejection, but it does not mark the end of the pipeline fight. TransCanada has already announced it will reapply for a permit based on a different route, and Obama said he was only making his decision based on time constraints, not on the pipeline’s "merits." We get reaction from Jane Kleeb of Bold Nebraska and 350.org founder Bill McKibben, an expert on climate change who has led massive protests in Washington, D.C. against the pipeline over the past six months. "This was a real victory for people standing up," McKibben says. "If we hadn’t gone and done what we did out in the streets, if we hadn’t made record numbers of public comments on this, then the oil industry, as usual, would have gotten away with a really bad idea." [includes rush transcript]
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Obama Rejects Keystone XL
WASHINGTON— President Barack Obama today denied the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, finding that building the pipeline is not in the national interest. Little mention was made of alternative routes currently being pushed by TransCanada, the company that wants to build the pipeline, and it appears they would have to begin the permit review process anew.
“President Obama made the right decision in denying the Keystone XL pipeline today,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Keystone XL pipeline would have prolonged our dependence on dirty fossil fuels that are polluting our air, land and water, and kept us from stabilizing the climate by moving to a clean energy future.”
The decision has already come under attack by Republicans claiming it will cost “tens of thousands” of jobs. In fact, the State Department estimated that Keystone XL would result in just 20 permanent, operational jobs in the United States and 2,500 to 4,650 temporary jobs.
“It’s utterly ridiculous to claim that rejecting Keystone XL is killing off tens of thousands of jobs. The facts just don’t back that up,” Greenwald said.
Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline
Center for Biological Diversity
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
We want those who come after us to inherit a world where the wild is still alive.
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• what next: Keystone XL | Republican Hostage Taking | Tar Sands
"the biggest global warming crime ever seen"
UPDATE January 18: President Obama has just rejected a permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline -- a project that promised riches for the oil giants and an environmental disaster for the rest of us.
His decision represents a victory of historic proportions for NRDC and hundreds of thousands of committed activists like you who have waged an uphill, years-long fight against one of the most nightmarish fossil fuel projects of our time.
Please thank the President right away for his game-changing decision.
Obama's decision has come under attack by Republicans claiming it will cost “tens of thousands” of jobs. In fact, the State Department estimated that Keystone XL would result in just 20 permanent, operational jobs in the United States and 2,500 to 4,650 temporary jobs.
Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline
Stop the Tar Sands Pipeline : Take Action!: Save BioGems: President Obama has changed the rules of the game by listening to the American people, rejecting Big Oil’s political bullying and rejecting the destructive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Please send him a message of thanks right away. If you want to have an even bigger impact, please call the White House at 202-456-1111 and convey your personal thanks directly!
• what next: Obama takes ownership of Keystone XL decision | Friends of the Earth
• what next: 12,000 Tar Sands Protesters Wrap White House in Human Chain
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