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President Barack Obama[/caption]Michael Marx makes a case against a situation that can create disastrous results for the United States, he tells us, even as President Obama's own assessments of the problem have provoked the President to say he would block any efforts to complete a project if it would “significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”
Marx is the Sierra Club Beyond Oil Campaign Director who tells us about the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline and why citizens should rally support against it. The Sierra Club, an activist group dedicated to environmental issues, tells us the oil companies are using a report from the US State Department that significantly underestimates the damage the pipeline could cause. In fact evidence shows the project could make a major impact on the environment and climate.
The report referred to by Marx was written, he maintains, by a member of the American Petroleum Institute and ignores the facts from scientists and industry analysts. He is asking citizens to respond vigorously to reveal the flaws in the oil industry-funded report and reminds people that “President made it clear he won't approve the pipeline if it harms the climate.” President Obama has yet to make a final decision on moving forward with the pipeline project that is poised to make oil transfers through the pipeline that could create considerable collateral and specific damage. The Sierra Club asks citizens to sign a petition to tell Secretary of State John Kerry not Obama not approve the Keystone XL pipeline project.
The Center for Biological Diversity stands with the Sierra Club in expressing its concerns about the Keystone XL pipeline. It points to this example as one that reveals the seriousness of the problems created by this type of project, citing facts about Keystone I is said to have leaked 14 times since its beginning in 2010, with one spill dumping 21,000 gallons of tar-sands. Other spills have polluted the Kalamazoo and Yellowstone Rivers from hundreds of thousands of gallons containing oil that has spilled into the waters.
What other damages could occur are underlined by The Center for Biological Diversity that include greater emissions of greenhouse gases that could increase risks of climate change, pollution of drinking water from oil spills, and the threats to wildlife.
The Institute for 21st Century Energy declares the Keystone XL pipelines to be advantageous for energy development, that it will produce more oil and is not a major contributor to environmental pollution. The organization declares: “The proposed TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline will allow the United States to access safe, reliable, and affordable energy supplies from Canada, and reduce our need to import crude oil from less stable countries and regions of the world. In addition to improving the nation's economic and energy security, during it's building phase the proposed project will provide approximately 20,000 badly needed manufacturing and construction jobs, and contribute an estimated $20 billion in benefits to the U.S. Economy.”
President Obama is at the apex of a major decision that could affect much of the United States, even as it could produce more energy. The energy companies clamor for citizen support for the Keystone XL pipeline even as environmental experts underline the horrific consequences that could imperil citizenry, the lands upon which folks live and work and the environment and wildlife that are at the mercy of man's decisions.
Both sides in the debate about the Keystone XL pipeline are asking citizens to sign petitions asking Obama to make the right decision.
