Defining Moments sometimes appear and this is one of those times. -Bill McKibben
UPDATE X 3
Here is another of Bill McKibben's defining moments as he's released from jail just hours ago.
This last Saturday was one of those moments for Bill Mc Kibben and 64 others arrested in D.C. for peacefully protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Today was a defining moment for the New York Times, who came out against Keystone XL pipeline.
This page opposes the building of a 1,700-mile pipeline called the Keystone XL, which would carry diluted bitumen an acidic crude oil from Canadas Alberta tar sands to the Texas Gulf Coast. We have two main concerns: the risk of oil spills along the pipeline, which would traverse highly sensitive terrain, and the fact that the extraction of petroleum from the tar sands creates far more greenhouse emissions than conventional production does.
The NYT debunks Canada's claims that they can reduce emissions,
linking to a new report put out by Canada's environmental ministry stating that the impact could be worst than thought.
The pipeline decision is in the hands of the U.S. State Dept. and the NYT editorial calls out the fact that our government cannot control Canadas business decisions, but we do do have the power to not enable the damage they're doing by not allowing the pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf to open up even more of our planet to environmental disaster.
Canada's government is committed to the tar sands business. (Alberta's energy minister, Ronald Liepert, has declared, I'm not interested in Kyoto-style policies.) The United States cant do much about that, but it can stop the Keystone XL pipeline.
The State Department will decide whether to approve or reject the pipeline by the end of the year. It has already delivered two flawed reports on the pipelines environmental impact. It should acknowledge the environmental risk of the pipeline and the larger damage caused by tar sands production and block the Keystone XL.
In breaking news:
Actress Daryl Hannah heading to D.C. to protest tar sands.
Two major unions, have come out against the Keystone Xl pipeline, too.
James Little, president of the Transport Workers Union, and Larry Hanley, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, in a joint statement called on the U.S. State Department to back away from the project, saying it would hurt the U.S. job market.
"We are also concerned that Keystone XL could double the amount of highly toxic tar sands oil being imported into the United States," they said.
Tar Sands Action-Come And Join Us
UPDATE: This from Twitter: RT@TreeHugger @TarSandsAction All 52 arrestees from today released. Their photos: http://t.co/... #noKXL
UPDATE 2: h/t toJekyllnHyde per comment:
162 Arrested at White House Sit-ins Against Tar Sands Pipeline
"Yes we can," about 65 protesters chanted this morning as they began a third day of sit-ins in front of the White House, calling for President Barack Obama to reject a permit for the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline from Canada.
Before noon, another 52 people were arrested by the U.S. Park Police, in addition to 65 protesters arrested Saturday and 45 people arrested on Sunday.
They view this permit decision as a test of the President's environmental principles and his will to "live up to the promises that so inspired us in his 2008 campaign," in the words of protest organizer, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben, who was arrested at the White House on Saturday.