REJECT AND PROTECT: STOP KEYSTONE XL RALLY 22-27 APR 14

HERE is the latest on the Reject and Protect rally 22-27 APR 14 in DC. You can sign up to participate by clicking here http://act.350.org/go/4849?t=1&akid=4304.575720.MJbIlZ
and see more on this struggle at The next and maybe final chapter & 'Cowboy Indian Alliance' Will Ride To D.C. For 'Reject And Protect' Keystone XL Protest & Hundreds of Students Arrested Outside White House at Keystone XL Pipeline Protest 11&4MAR14 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-next-and-maybe-final-chapter-cowboy.html

"One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover, our God is the same God. You may think now that you own [God] as you wish to own our land; but you cannot. [God] is the God of man, and [God's] compassion is equal for the red man and the white. This earth is precious to [God], and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator."
-Chief Seattle

FAQs

What's the plan

On April 22nd an alliance of tribal leaders, ranchers and farmers called the “Cowboy Indian Alliance” will ride into Washington DC on horseback. For five days they will set up camp near the White House, performing daily ceremonies and holding events that will send a clear message to President Obama: “reject the Keystone XL pipeline,” and “protect our land, water, and climate.” On April 27th, you are invited to join frontline leaders organizing the encampment to march together to the White House to send our final, powerful statement to President Obama that he must reject Keystone XL and protect our land water and climate.

When and where is the march on April 27th?

The march will start at the camp — exact location still TBD — and start late morning. You will get an update as soon as the logistics are finalized.

Who is involved?

Reject and Protect is led by the “Cowboy Indian Alliance,” a group of ranchers, landowners, and tribal communities from along the Keystone XL pipeline route. Scroll down for more information about the Alliance.
Organizations like 350.org, the Sierra Club, and many others (see list below) are helping to rally national support for our allies living along the pipeline route. The full list of endorsing organizations is here.

What is the Cowboy and Indian Alliance?

The Cowboy and Indian Alliance brings together tribal communities with ranchers and farmers living along the Keystone XL pipeline proposed route. Farmers and ranchers know the risk first-hand. They work the land every day. Tribes know the risk first-hand. They protect the sacred water every day. They have united out of love and respect for the land and water on which we all depend. This is not the first time an Alliance such as this has come together to stop projects that risk our land and water. In the 80s, we came together to protect water and the Black Hills from uranium mining and risky munitions testing. In the American imagination, “cowboys and indians” are still at odds. However, in reality, opposition to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has brought communities together like few causes in our history. Tribes, farmers and ranchers are all people of the land, who consider it their duty as stewards to conserve the land and protect the water for future generations.

Who is invited to the encampment?

The camp is a ceremonial space, and so camping is limited to members of the Cowboy Indian Alliance. There will be events throughout the week where the public will be invited, but unless you are specifically told otherwise, we ask you not to camp at the site during the week. All are needed and all are invited for the march on April 27th. There will also be many actions and events during the week, 4/22-4/26, where broader participation is welcomed. If you part of a Tribe,  live along the proposed route, or the southern-leg of the Keystone XL pipeline and want to join the camp, please email rejectandprotect@gmail.com.

What will be happening at the encampment?

To open the encampment, tribes and ranchers will ride into Washington DC horseback, and ceremonially set up camp near the White House. The camp will include daily ceremonies and events, like prayers at Secretary Kerry’s home, and visits from key allies also fighting the pipeline.

Who is coming to the march on April 27th?

Everyone is invited to join leaders from frontline communities and support the march to the White House on April 27th in Washington DC. Transportation resources for this event are being focused on supporting groups who are directly impacted by Keystone XL to attend, so there are no travel funds available to subsidize buses or other travel for other supporters. If you or your community are directly impacted by Keystone XL and would like to attend, please email us at xldissent@gmail.com. We expect to see thousands of people from the Eastern part of the United States at the march on April 27th , but if you can’t make it, stay tuned, there will be many support events planned locally nationwide in the coming weeks. Look out for more details here soon.

Can I get a ride there?

There’s a ride board for offering or finding rides to the event on the 27th available here.

Can I volunteer to help out?

Yes. If you can make it to Washington DC the evening before the march, we will be hosting a marshals training and orientation in a local community space. Click here if you can be there the evening before and would like to help out.

How do I get around Washington DC?

The Metro subway system is the best way to get around Washington. You’ll want to buy a SmarTrip fare card (either online or in a Metro station once you’re here) and be sure to stand right, walk left when using the escalators (trust us, the locals are really cool but they’re pretty touchy about this one). SmarTrip fare cards are the most convenient way to use the system and though they cost $5, their fares are cheaper and will save you money after your fifth ride. The city also has an extensive bus system and one of the best bikeshares in the country. We’ll post more about specific Metro stops and bus routes once we have the rally’s exact downtown location.

What are the tar sands?

Canada’s tar sands are the largest industrial development in the world, mining and shipping bitumen, a dense, corrosive form of oil found primarily in Alberta. Because tar sands are not liquid, but rather an asphalt like substance, they require massive amounts of energy, water and toxic chemicals to refine into burnable oil. This makes tar sands oil produce far more carbon pollution and dangerous to land and water.   Click here for more information about the tar sands.

What is Keystone XL?

Keystone XL is a pipeline from Alberta, Canada that would carry 830,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil across Treaty lands and farm land, to the already-build southern leg of Keystone XL, where it will connect with refineries on the Gulf Coast. It’s the largest and nearest completion of any major tar sands transportation project, and the fastest possible way for tar sands to get to overseas markets, making it the key to further development of the tar sands. Click here for more information about Keystone XL.

What are the impacts of tar sands on First Nations and communities near mines?

Tar sands are destructive at every stage of their lifecycle, from the ravaged boreal forests of Northern Canada to the choked communities in refining corridors across America. But the indigenous communities living closest to the land bear special witness to tar sands destruction. First Nations have spoken out on the toll tar sands have taken on their ancestral lands and the water and wildlife that supports their culture and community. Reject and Protect will provide witness to the destruction and the injustices that are happening in these communities. “My people are dying,” says George Poitras, a member of the Mikisew Cree First Nation in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. Communities such as his situated just downstream from the vast toxic moonscape of tar sands development in Alberta, have absorbed some of the worst damage. “The extraction of oil from Canada’s tar sands is having a devastating impact on our indigenous people,” Poitras says. Studies have found levels of mercury, arsenic, lead, and other toxins at elevated levels near the area’s tar sands excavation sites. These chemicals are known carcinogens and cause the types of rare cancers—including cancer of the bile ducts—that are on the rise among members of the Fort Chipewyan community. Statistically, bile duct cancer normally occurs in one out of every 100,000 people. But a study by the Alberta Cancer Board confirmed these cancer rates at Fort Chipewyan are 30 percent higher than average.

What are the impacts of tar sands on refinery communities?

Many communities slated for tar sands refining already suffer the disproportionate brunt of industrial pollution and health problems associated with chemical and petroleum refining. Since refineries and heavy industry are often located in low-income communities, these citizens have the fewest resources available to defend their communities against polluters. They pay the high health costs that come as a direct result from exposure to industrial contaminants. Dr. Stuart Batterman, a professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, has observed an increase in the number of adult males developing leukemia in the area surrounding tar sands oil refineries. And he believes we are significantly underestimating the number of chemicals used in the refining process. “We need to be proactive and avoid this situation in the first place,” Batterman said, arguing that the key is solving the problem before the cancer develops, not doing damage control after it’s been found.
At the ultimate destination of the Keystone XL pipeline in Port Arthur, Texas, Hilton Kelly, an environmental justice activist and founder and CEO of Community In-power and Development Association Inc., said introducing tar sands oil to an area already saturated with numerous oil refineries and chemical plants would make a bad situation much worse. Kelly said tar sands and Keystone XL would increase emissions of benzene, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air that residents of Port Arthur breathe every day. “Enough is enough,” Kelly said. “We do not need nor do we want tar sands in our community. It’s time for the onslaught to end.”

What is petcoke?

Petcoke is a toxic byproduct of tar sand refining — it’s a coal like substance that contains the last burnable bits of carbon after liquid fuels have been refined out. It’s often burned in coal plants, adding yet more carbon pollution to the atmosphere, and is stored in large open piles that blow dangerous dust into surrounding communities. It’s the coal hiding in the tar sands, turning tar sands refineries into the equivalent of coal plants. Click here to find out more about petcoke.

http://rejectandprotect.org/FAQs/

Call to action from Credo
The clock is ticking fast on the Keystone XL decision. Secretary Kerry’s national interest recommendation to the president — expected in early May — will be here before we know it.
The past few weeks have seen even¹ more² evidence³ that the State Department drastically underestimated the impact of Keystone XL, a game-changing XL Dissent action at the White House where 398 students were arrested to show President Obama exactly what is on the line with his decision, dozens more activists arrested in San Francisco and Philadelphia, and last week our allies came together to deliver an astounding 2 million comments to the State Department opposing Keystone XL.
But we can't just rest on our laurels or hold our breath as we wait for a decision. The oil industry certainly isn’t. It collected nearly half as many comments as tar sands opponents, in support of Keystone XL. Grassroots pressure has never been the fossil-fuel industry's primary method to influence the debate in the Beltway, so that’s a clear signal that the industry will fight to the end to force approval.
We need to use these final weeks to show the president that he stands to lose a lot more by approving Keystone XL than whatever he thinks he could possibly gain. Here is how you can help make the most powerful closing case to the president:

1. Sign up for your nearest Pledge of Resistance Action Team to show the President that you’re prepared to take action if the Obama administration makes the mistake of moving toward final approval. Yesterday, we crossed 90,000 people who have joined you in committing to risk arrest if necessary to protest Keystone XL -- we need to show we are ready to mobilize. The action being prepared nearest you is: Dunn Loring State Department Office Sit-in. Click here to see all the actions in your area.
2. RSVP for the Reject and Protect March on April 27 if you are near the Washington, DC, area or can get there. On April 22nd, a group of ranchers, farmers and tribal communities from along the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline route, called the Cowboy Indian Alliance, will ride into Washington, DC, and set up camp near the White House to tell President Obama to reject the pipeline. Then, thousands of people will join them on Sunday, April 27, and stand together to send a powerful message that the Keystone XL pipeline and the tar sands must be rejected — to protect this, and future generations. Read the invitation from the Cowboy Indian Alliance and RSVP.
3. Chip in to fund our last burst of organizing against Keystone XL. There’s a lot left to do to make sure President Obama rejects Keystone XL, and be prepared to hold him accountable if he approves it -- and it's not possible without your help.

Stay tuned - next week we'll be announcing locations for a Pledge of Resistance training tour in April, to train the local leaders who will help us double the number of planned pledge of resistance actions ready to deploy around the country if Secretary Kerry recommends that Keystone XL is in the national interest.
Thanks for standing with us and making sure we do everything in our power in these final weeks to pressure president Obama to reject Keystone XL.
Elijah Zarlin, CREDO Action
Amanda Starbuck, Rainforest Action Network
John Sellers, the Other 98%
P.S. Looking for a great article on why the pipeline is such a bad idea? Brad Wieners, executive editor at Bloomberg BuisnessWeek -- hardly a green, lefty institution -- published a piece last week entitled "Give Me One Good Reason Obama Should Approve Keystone XL," which clearly debunks every argument that oil companies have laid out for approval of Keystone XL. It's worth reading and sharing widely.
1. "Did the State Department Manipulate Facts to Support Keystone XL?," Oil Change International, 3/6/14
2. "Canada oil-by-rail deliveries in 2013 lagged U.S. estimate," Reuters, 3/5/14
3. "Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline: The ‘significance’ trap," Carbon Tracker Initiative, 3/3/14