UPDATE (January 9th, 2014):
It's just as we feared: the U.S. Congress is on the verge of passing legislation approving the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Now, the only person who can halt the construction of this climate-destroying pipeline is President Obama. We must tell him to protect our planet’s future and veto this pipeline.
The struggle to switch the world to clean energy is one of the biggest fights of our time. This is no overstatement. Climate scientists all over the world can’t emphasize enough that if we don’t kick our addiction to fossil fuels, in the words of former NASA head James Hansen, it’s "game over for the climate".
President Obama has already stated that he would veto this pipleine-- but we still need to make sure he follows through.
Join us in urging President Obama to veto this pipeline, your voice is more important now than ever.
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Original petition (November 18th, 2014):
We’re safe -- for now. The U.S. Senate has just blocked approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. We’re out of the woods for the moment, but when right-wing Republicans take over the Senate in January we definitely won’t be.
Now is the time to remind President Obama that the power to stop Keystone still lies in his hands. If the bill reaches his desk, there is only one course of action: veto this pipeline.
The struggle to switch the world to clean energy is one of the biggest fights of our time. This is no overstatement -- climate scientists all over the world can’t emphasize enough that if we don’t kick our addiction to fossil fuels, in the words of former NASA head James Hansen, it’s "game over for the climate".
Believe it or not, the time is particularly ripe to stop this thing. The U.S. just signed a historic climate change deal with China. President Obama doesn’t want to tarnish his legacy of climate action, and with no more elections ahead of him, he has nothing to lose. As of right now he’s already considering a veto -- we need to tell him, when the time comes, to follow through. Let’s make sure he knows to hold the line.
Tell President Obama to stand up for the climate: pledge to veto the Keystone XL pipeline.
Keystone XL represents everything that’s bad about Big Oil. It would take millions of gallons of tar sands bitumen -- the filthiest oil on the planet -- and carry it more than a thousand miles through pristine wilderness, prime agricultural land, irreplaceable watersheds and residential communities. And we know that pipelines spill. They always spill.
What’s more, investing billions in this infrastructure will lock North America into a high-carbon, fossil fuel-dependent future. This pipeline would carry bitumen all the way from Canada to Port Arthur, Texas, where it would get exported to the highest bidder. Producers in Canada’s tar sands are desperate to find global markets for their dirty product -- just last month, the first shipment of tar sands oil landed on the shores of Europe.
If this pipeline is built, global exports of tar sands crude will multiply dramatically. If President Obama does the right thing and vetoes the pipeline, it will help keep all that dirty oil in the ground where it belongs.
Join us in calling on President Obama to stop this disastrous pipeline for once and for all.
Make no mistake: the stakes have never been higher. We have been successful in delaying this pipeline for years -- now let’s make sure it gets killed for once and for all. Back in 2012, we were part of a global movement that delivered over two million testimonials to President Obama and the State Department telling them to shelve Keystone XL. We won, but it's only a reprieve. To shelve Keystone permanently, we need to do even better. That’s why every voice counts.
Thanks for everything that you do,
Paul, Angus, and the rest of the SumOfUs team
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More information:
Senate rejects Keystone XL pipeline bill, Guardian, Nov 18, 2014
Will Keystone XL Become Obama's Third Veto Ever?, The Atlantic, Nov 14, 2014