There's a lot going in the next few weeks as President Obama nears a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline.
And after recruiting dozens of CREDO action members to literally get arrested with us, delivering over 200,000 petition signatures to the president, making over 4,000 calls to the White House, and sending 14,000 letters and 30,000 online comments to the State Department — there's no way we're done fighting.
We know you care about stopping this disastrous dirty oil pipeline, so we wanted to let you know about everything that's happening, and how you can help build pressure on the president.
Next week, the State Department is holding public hearings in each of the six states along the proposed Keystone XL route. We're recruiting local CREDO activists to attend and tell the State Department that this pipeline is NOT in our national interest.
We're also organizing nearly 20 meetings at the offices of Representatives whose districts fall in the proposed pipeline route. CREDO activists will ask their Representative to join the call of elected officials like Nebraska's Republican Governor, who sent a letter asking President Obama to reject the pipeline.1
If you live in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas, you may have received an email about a hearing or meeting. (If you didn't receive an email about a hearing, it might be a long drive from you, but you can find the event in your state.)
The final State Department hearing will be on October 7th in Washington, DC. Our friends at Tar Sands Action are organizing a rally outside the final hearing, and another big rally on November 6th — one year from the 2012 election — outside the White House.
Until a decision gets made, we'll need your help to escalate pressure at key moments with phone calls to the White House, and actions aimed at the State Department, President Obama, and others who may influence the President's decision. But the bottom line is, this is the president's decision.
As public hearings are ongoing next week, the State Department is also collecting final public comments on whether the pipeline is in our national interest.
These comments are especially important right now, because of major revelations this week about a shockingly cozy relationship between State Department officials and lobbyists for the Canadian pipeline company TransCanada.
On Thursday, our friends at Friends of the Earth published documents they obtained through the Freedom of Information Act request (and a subsequent law suit). These documents include emails from a TransCanada lobbyist named Paul Elliot, who previously served as the Deputy Campaign Manager on Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign.2
State Department officials appear to have coached Elliot and other TransCanada staff about how to build their case for approval, and even how to respond to questions and concerns about pipeline safety and environmental impact.
The State Department has a solemn obligation to the people of this country to conduct an impartial evaluation of the impacts of this pipeline. Instead, officials appear to be acting in cahoots with the foreign company they are supposed to be evaluating.
These emails, combined with the woefully inadequate environmental impact statement finalized a few weeks ago despite numerous concerns from the EPA,3 make it abundantly clear that the State Department is putting the interests of TransCanada ahead of our national interest.
Even if the State Department drops the ball, President Obama has no excuse. This final public comment period is an opportunity to send him the message that we expect better from his State Department. And that he still has the opportunity to lead, and reject this pipeline.
We have a lot of work to do in the coming months. Thanks for standing with us against Keystone XL.
Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
CREDO Action from Working Assets
1. Dave Heineman, Nebraska Governor Urges Obama To Deny Keystone XL Pipeline Permit Huffington Post, August 31, 2011.
2. TransCanada pipeline lobbyist works all the angles with former colleagues The Washington Post, September 23, 2011.
3. EPA: State Department Analysis Of Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Oil Spill, Global Warming Risks Is 'Insufficient' Think Progress, June 7, 2011.
2. TransCanada pipeline lobbyist works all the angles with former colleagues The Washington Post, September 23, 2011.
3. EPA: State Department Analysis Of Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Oil Spill, Global Warming Risks Is 'Insufficient' Think Progress, June 7, 2011.
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