As early as September, President Barack Obama will decide whether
to light a fuse to the largest carbon bomb in North America. That
bomb is the massive tar sands field in Alberta. And the fuse is the
1,700-mile long Keystone XL Pipeline that would transport this
dirtiest of petroleum fuels all the way to Texas refineries.
If built, the Keystone XL Pipeline would lock North America
into a future of planet-warming energy dependency. Indeed, Dr.
Hansen – America’s top climate scientist – has said that
full exploitation of Canada’s tar sands would be “game over” for
efforts to confront the climate crisis.
From August 20th to September 3rd, thousands of Americans (and
Canadians) – including Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and NASA’s Dr.
James Hansen – will be at the White House, day after day, to demand
that President Obama reject this tar sands nightmare. Given the high
stakes, many protestors will engage in peaceful civil disobedience
to make their voices heard. This event may become the biggest
act of civil disobedience in the climate movement’s history.
This protest will be going on for two weeks between Aug. 20 and
Sept. 3 to let the world know just what we think of the tar sands.
President Obama alone – without input from a dysfunctional
Congress – has the power to approve or reject the Keystone XL
Pipeline. He will decide as soon as September whether to honour
his campaign pledge to create a clean-energy economy, or to lock
the US in as a nation that cooks and distils filthy tar sands
bitumen for much of their energy. Building this pipeline would be an
economic and moral setback for clean-energy sources of all types.
We must draw a line in the sand -- the tar sands!
If this project is approved it would encourage the
exploitation of Canada's tar sands, accelerate the destruction of the
ecosystems in that area, and lead to increased dumping of toxins into
the Athabasca River - the main source of water for some First Nations
groups. In addition the proposed pipeline would be built over the
Ogallala aquifer, a main source of potable water in many regions of the
US.
We encourage President Obama to advance the US as a leader in
clean energy development. An effective mechanism to drive this
transition to a clean energy economy is Carbon Fee & Dividend. Put a
price on carbon that increases over 10 years and give the dividend back
to the American people to help shoulder price increases during this
transition.
For more: [www.tarsandsaction.org]
Address:
President Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500