Protesters plead Obama not issue pipeline permits for oil from Canada'star sands

[caption id="attachment_4499" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Tar sands risks"][/caption]

Editor - Protesters who oppose a controversial pipeline that would
bring the world’s dirtiest oil to the U.S. demonstrated outside of a
fund-raising event attended by President Obama last week and called on
the President not to allow the project to continue.

In a press release, Friends of the Earth narrated the events of the protest and introduced what they had to say with this:  “This proposed pipeline—called the Keystone XL—would be dirty at both ends, poisoning indigenous communities near where tar sands oil is extracted, and dirtying the air families breathe in communities where the oil is refined. It could also spill, threatening those who live in the plains states that lie in its path,” said Alex Moore of Friends of the Earth.

“The Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf, the Big Branch coal
disaster in West Virginia, and now this latest pipeline spill in
Kalamazoo, Michigan, all demonstrate that fossil fuels are inherently
dirty and dangerous. We need to transition to clean energy, not double
down on these dirty energy sources of the past. President Obama can show leadership by rejecting this pipeline permit and supporting clean
energy and conservation instead,” said Debra Michaud of Rainfores Action Network Chicago.

The demonstration today, which took place outside the Palmer House Hilton, was organized by Rainforest Action Network Chicago and Friends
of the Earth. Demonstrators protested alongside a giant, oil-covered pelican. Earlier in the day, activists greeted President Obama with a
banner over his Lake Shore Drive route that read: “Pres. Obama: Stop the Keystone Pipeline, Stop the Tar Sands.” The Keystone XL pipeline would
carry oil from Canada’s tar sands (the world’s dirtiest) through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

More than 100,000 citizens have filed public comments in opposition to the pipeline with the U.S. State Department, and the Obama
administration has received letters raising concerns about the project from 51 members of Congress, including Representatives Mike Quigley and
Jan Schakowsky from Illinois.

President Obama has the power to stop the pipeline project by directing his administration to reject permits that would allow the project to move forward.