URGENT -- Your Senator needs to hear from you before tar sands vote! 15MAR13

UPDATE! 350.org is asking supporters to call swing vote Senators and tell them to vote against any legislation including approval of the keystone xl pipeline. I called Sen Tim Kaine D VA, click the link to make your call http://act.350.org/call/kxl-swing-calls-2013
THE NRDC has sent this call to action concerning the keystone xl pipeline. Approval on the pipeline may be included in a budget bill that the Senate may vote on as soon as Monday 18MAR13. If the legislation is passed it will go to the House where the amendment will be passed and then we will have lost the opportunity to force Pres Obama to reject the pipeline. POLITICS AT IT'S DIRTIEST. Please click the link to send a message to your Senator telling him to reject the amendment and to vote against any legislation including the amendment approving the keystone xl pipeline! My e mail to Senators Mark Warner D VA and Tim Kaine D VA at the end of this post.....

The Senate could vote as soon as Monday on a budget provision that would force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Your Senator may be wavering in opposition to this disastrous project. The Senator needs to hear immediately from pro-environmental constituents like you.  Please send a message right now telling your Senator to stand strong against the Keystone XL by voting against any budget provisions that would approve it.  Big Oil’s champions in the Senate have put forward this provision as a way to short-circuit the normal review process that is now moving forward in the Obama Administration. Less than two weeks ago, the State Department began to collect public comments on its draft environmental review of the Keystone XL. That review was deeply flawed and ignores the devastating impacts that the tar sands pipeline could have on our climate and water supplies. That’s why NRDC is now mobilizing public pressure on the White House to reject that review and to reject the pipeline. But if Congress acts first to approve the Keystone XL as part of a must-pass budget bill, then President Obama will not get to make a decision. His hands will be tied and this climate-wrecking project will get the green light. Urge your Senator to deliver on his commitment to tackling climate change by rejecting any and all attempts in Congress to force an approval of the Keystone XL. Thank you for making your voice heard and joining forces with NRDC against the Keystone XL. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

Friends,
We have a fight on our hands in Congress.  Big oil's highest-paid representatives are forcing a vote on a bill that would require President Obama to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
The vote will happen next week, as soon as Tuesday, and will likely come down to the Senate, where the vote will be close. It looks like your Senator will be key in deciding how it turns out.
Fortunately, Virginia is home to one of the strongest climate movements in the country, and plans are already underway to meet with the Senator and their staff to push them to oppose the pipeline.
But as you read this, big oil is no doubt putting every tool at their disposal to work, from high powered lobbyists to campaign cash. That means we all need to step up. The vote on Keystone isn't expected until next week, but early calls to your Senator can make a big impact and help keep this vote from tipping in the wrong direction. Can you make a call to your Senator right now to ask him to stop the pipeline?
Click here to get the number and make your call: act.350.org/call/kxl-swing-calls-2013/
Americans have mobilized in absolutely historic numbers to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and it's unacceptable that your Senator would even consider supporting it. Thousands of Virginians were a part of the historic Forward on Climate rally in DC just last month, and thousands more have joined the pledge to join civil disobedience if the pipeline were approved by any means.
Forcing President Obama to approve a project like Keystone XL is totally reckless. If you agree that it's time for our representatives in Congress to get serious about climate change and stop this pipeline, give your Senator a call and let him know: act.350.org/call/kxl-swing-calls-2013/
We'll have another update for you next week about the vote as things develop. We're expecting a vote sometime between Tuesday and Thursday, and we'll send you another email before it happens to let you know how things are panning out.
Onwards,
Duncan

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MY E MAIL TO SENATORS WARNER AND KAINE

I strongly oppose the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline because of the threat it poses to our climate, air, water and economy. I urge you to work against and vote against any attempt in Congress to approve this dirty energy project as part of the budget bill. Your voice is an important one in fighting climate change, and that fight must include saying No to projects that dramatically expand the use of dirty fuels like tar sands. Including approval of the pipeline in budget legislation is a prime example of politics at it's worst and exposes the corrupting influence of big oil on Congress. If the keystone xl pipeline should be approved it should be able to prove it's worth through the State Department's public environmental review process and as stand alone legislation.

The State Department recently started a public environmental review process for this project that will determine whether the Keystone XL pipeline is in the national interest. Congress should allow the Obama Administration to make an informed decision based on a thorough environmental review and sound science. Any such review will clearly show that the Keystone XL pipeline and the far-reaching harm it will cause our climate, health and safety -- is not in our national interest.

Please vote against any attempt to include approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in the budget bill.