To preserve our planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current levels of nearly 400 parts per million to below 350 ppm. But 350 is more than a number—it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a planet..
In the past week, President Obama has delivered some straight talk on Keystone XL:
“I meant what I said; I’m going to evaluate this based on whether or not this is going to significantly contribute to carbon in our atmosphere.”
“That oil is going to be piped down to the Gulf to be sold on the world oil markets, so it does not bring down gas prices here in the United States.”
“Putting all your eggs in the basket of an oil pipeline that may only create about 50 permanent jobs … isn’t a jobs plan.”
Wow.
These comments are the result of years of relentless organizing by folks across the country (and the world) to put pressure on the President. More than 1400 people have been arrested, including some last week, and tens of thousands more have taken to the streets in protests against the pipeline.
In fact, since March, President Obama and his closest advisers have been met by #noKXL protests at 30 different events — from Washington, DC to Warrensburg, Missouri to Cape Town, South Africa. Each time the message is simple: keeping your promises on climate change means standing up to the tar sands and stopping Keystone XL.
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Every independent analysis of the pipeline — unlike the State Department’s big oil-tainted assessment — has reached the obvious conclusion that building an 830,000 barrel per day pipeline carrying the world’s dirtiest oil will be bad for the climate. Even if Canada said they wanted to clean up their mess, it wouldn’t be enough: the government of Alberta enforces its environmental laws less than 1% of the time, meaning that the only climate-safe tar sands is the stuff that stays in the ground.
