Just when common sense had prevailed on the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, with the President's November 10th announcement that a thorough scientific evaluation is needed on this dangerous, dirty, and wildly unpopular project, some in Congress siding with Big Oil and attempting to rush the decision.
Senator Richard Lugar announced today he will introduce a bill requiring that the Administration dismiss the science, ignore public opposition and approve the project in 60 days with no further review.
Senator Bernie Sanders has already blasted back in a statement we readily support – noting that,
At a time when the State Department Inspector General is conducting a special inquiry into possible conflicts of interest related to the State Department's handling of this project, it is completely inappropriate to try to short-circuit the thorough environmental review process federal law requires. The more the American people learn about this project, and the significant greenhouse gas emissions and pollution increases it would cause, the stronger the opposition to it will become.
Congress must get out of the way as the pipeline is investigated and subjected to further environmental review. Or, even better as Sanders also noted, Congress should demand "a new and independent review of the project."
But our push to reject tar sands oil is not limited to the pipeline and reaches beyond U.S. borders. Today the Sierra Club and an international coalition of groups, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other African leaders, are calling on Canada to restore its reputation as a leader on global issues, which is tarnished by Canada's active promotion of the tar sands.
A full-page ad in the Globe and Mail compares the Canada that was one of the first western countries to impose sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa in 1986 with the Canada's failure to date to respond to global warming, which will have serious social and environmental impacts. Click here to see the ad (PDF).
As part of this push, the groups also unveiled a new website, DrawTheLineatTarSands.com, which features videos from African individuals speaking about the impacts of climate change on their lives and calling on Canada and other world leaders to do more.
The U.S., Canada, and beyond can do better than tar sands oil. It's time for an international clean energy movement – let's Draw the Line at Tar Sands.
-- Kate Colarulli, Associate Director of the Sierra Club Beyond Oil Campaign
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