Help Obama keep his word REJECT THE KESTONE XL PIPELINE 25JUL12

JUST as the battle for the Presidency is heating up so too is the battle against the keystone xl pipeline, a project that will do nothing to ease our dependence on dirty fossil fuels and will put the entire Midwest at risk of the Ogallala Aquifer becoming contaminated by heavy tar sands oil. transcanada has a dismal pipeline safety record and can not be trusted to operate this proposed pipeline in a responsible manner, and they can not be trusted to clean up the environmental damage from any spill. Their environmental legacy is clearly visible here National Geographic Slams Tar Sands — Canadian Politicians Pissed
( http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/national-geographic-slams-tar-sands-a-canadian-politicians-pissed.html  ). Please click the link to join 350.org's letter campaign to the State Dept calling on Sec of State Clinton and Pres Obama to reject the keystone xl pipeline.....

Keystone XL is back.

In fact, it never left. Big oil has been trying everything to get this pipeline built, ever since President Obama temporarily rejected it earlier this year. We have forced TransCanada to extreme measures: they broke the pipeline in two, moving forward with the southern leg, which doesn't require Presidential approval, and re-submitting the Northern half, which includes the critical link to the tar sands.

Folks along the Southern leg are gearing up for some extraordinary direct actions to stop construction when it begins later this summer. The fate of the Northern leg is still unknown - though to be honest, the signs aren't very encouraging.

It's still not clear that President Obama’s promise to consider the climate change impacts of the pipeline will be kept. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the folks at the State Department will decide next week whether to consider the climate impacts of Keystone XL in their review of the pipeline.

Keystone XL would open the floodgates for tar sands oil, sending 800,000 barrels a day of the dirtiest oil on earth to be exported, creating an enormous carbon footprint. 10 top scientists already sent a letter to State insisting the climate impacts be considered - can you join them and send a message to Sec. Clinton to demand that they consider climate change when reviewing Keystone XL?

Click here to send a message to the State Department: act.350.org/letter/keystone-state-climate/
Today is also the 2nd anniversary of the largest tar sands spill in American history, which took place on the Kalamazoo river in Michigan. With that warning, State must undertake a comprehensive, high-scrutiny review of every aspect of the pipeline.
Your comment will be automatically submitted to the Department from our site, but we will also be doing a bulk delivery with our allies in DC next week to help underline how many people want to see this pipeline stopped.

Canada's own Natural Resources Minister admitted that Keystone is the key to unlocking new tar sands production. Planned pipelines heading West and East from the tar sands have run into major opposition, leaving Keystone as one of the last options to export tar sands.

That means the Sec. Clinton's decision will be the key to whether we see dramatic expansion of the tar sands in the short term. NASA's top climate scientist James Hansen has warned us that If big oil does manage to dig up and burn all that oil with her approval, it means 'essentially game over' for the climate.

That seems like something worth thinking about.

If you agree, click here to send a message to Sec. of State Clinton and the State Department.

Keystone XL is both a symbol and a stepping stone to the work we're going to do to change the way the fossil fuel industry works. Ensuring the President keeps his word builds critical momentum for all of our ourganizing to take on the industry overall, beginning by taking away their massive subsidies. If you've read Bill McKibben's latest in Rolling Stone, it's very clear why we have to keep the good energy we built from fighting Keystone going -- simply put, we are in the fight of our lives.
Once again, the odds, and money of the fossil fuel industry are both against us. We’ve beaten both before and we'll need to again.
-Duncan
PS - If you haven't yet, take a few minutes to read Bill's article in Rolling Stone. He says it's the most important thing he's written in 23 years, and it's quite clear why: it explains in the starkest possible terms how close we are to losing the fight for the future of our planet, and what we need to do if we hope to turn things around. Click here to read it: act.350.org/signup/reckoning
Sources:

"Oil sands ‘landlocked’ due to environmental concerns and market bottlenecks" Financial Post, July 11th, 2012 http://act.350.org/go/1935?t=6&akid=2098.575720.v4day5

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