Via Bill McKibben:
Last week the Canadian government sent a letter to President Obama offering vague promises of reducing carbon emissions from the tar sands in return for the right to build the pipeline. Scientists and energy analysts quickly pointed out that this was nonsense -- it’s as if you were to begin your diet with two dozen jelly doughnuts, or plan to quit smoking by buying another carton or two of cigarettes.
I think this means the Canadians are getting a little desperate. They know the tide has turned against this pipeline in the U.S.
An article in The New Yorker magazine this week called the fight over Keystone XL “the most prominent environmental cause in America.” The article also pointed out that now there are TV ads airing around the country telling the truth: that this is an export pipeline that will threaten every town it passes with ugly spills.
Just two years ago everyone told us this was a done deal. Now we’ve clearly got a chance.
The Canadian government is going all-out right now, and we need to do so as well. September 21st is the day -- that's when we will Draw the Line to oppose the pipeline and the tar sands it would carry. The President has made his promises, and now he needs to keep them. That means stopping the pipeline, and stopping it now.
Click here to find an event near you to Draw the Line on Keystone XL: act.350.org/event/draw_the_line/search/
Extra innings, overtime, at the buzzer: pick your sports cliché, but now’s the moment. Stopping Keystone XL won’t stop global warming -- but it would keep a huge pool of carbon in the ground, and perhaps begin to turn the tide against the relentless greed of the fossil fuel industry. That would be a big deal indeed.
