The Obama administration announced today that the Presidential approval of the Keystone XL pipeline will be delayed until 2013 due to concerns about the proposed routing of the pipeline through Nebraska and the Ogallala Aquifer.

Less than a week after 12,000 people surrounded the White House at a mass day of action, the news is a step in the right direction to cancel the project  entirely.

The Obama Administration sent back the permit application to the State Department for a re-review and stated that climate change was a major factor that needed to be re-assessed.

This is a HUGE victory. Just months ago this was considered a ‘done deal’. But with our voices and actions we have been able to send a clear message to the Obama Administration that we will not stand idly while corporations insist on destroying our environment for monetary gain.

But, the fight is not over. While the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would transport 900,000 barrels of crude a day, two other pipelines in Canada — the Alberta Clipper and the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project pipelines — remain a threat for all the reasons Keystone XL is a crazy idea. Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians spoke about the pipelines on Nov 6 in front of the White House.

We celebrate this victory around the Keystone XL approval delay. We, with many of you, will follow the review process and make sure that Keystone XL is cancelled.

Earlier this week Bill McKibben called Keystone XL and TransCanada (the company chomping to build the pipeline) the ‘poster child’ for the #occupy movement and we will continue to challenge harmful, destructive projects and work towards a just, safe and resilient future.

Bill McKibben and Tar Sands Action have lead a tremendous campaign this year. Our highest hat tip goes to the folks over there. Read their next steps here.

I’ve been blogging about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline will drastically expand tar sands extraction in Canada and accelerate the harm the tar sands are causing the people and planet. If you are reading this blog, you know that the extraction of the tar sands in northern Alberta, is the largest and most destructive industrial project in human history, you know that the irrevocable destruction this extraction causes is severe – to the water, flora, fauna and land. You also know that communities downstream of the Athabasca River suffer pollution and devastating health impacts, literally killing First Nation members. And you know that oil companies are trouncing treaty and Indigenous rights in northern Alberta.

Most importantly, now it’s time to take action. This Tuesday in San Francisco President Obama will be at a $7500 per plate lunch with his biggest donors at the W Hotel (3rd St. and Howard St) and I’ll be outside (at 11:30am) with the good folks at CREDO Action telling President Obama that the Keystone XL pipeline is not the kind of change I was expecting from his administration. And as he contemplates green lighting the pipeline, on November 6th I’ll join thousands of others in front of the White House to tell Obama that he’s got the support he needs to say No to the Keystone XL pipeline, and say NO to EXPANDING the largest and most destructive industrial project in human history.

To join me in San Francisco on Tuesday, sign up here.

You need to speak up now! On Tuesday twenty-two (22) Democrats did – in support of the Keystone XL pipeline project. They wrote a letter, in support of the project, which was announced by the corporation that expects to build the pipeline – TransCanada.

Oil Change International has posted a great retort to their arguments for Keystone XL based on the claim to create energy security and jobs which pretty much closes the case. If you still need more, check out this blog by John Vaillant (author, The Golden Spruce) and Andrew Nikiforuk (author, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent) where they state, ‘In sum, the Keystone pipeline will not serve American interests but delight the Canadian government and its oil lobby. In addition to draining your pocketbooks and further compromising your environmental health, it will enrich Canadian politicians who don’t believe in climate change.  Your own Thomas Jefferson said it best: “Dependence begets subservience and venality.”’ Boom.

There are some great actions happening around the country

Midwest Powershift is this weekend!

Follow the Cincinnati, OH Midwest Powershift conference this weekend – as hundreds of youth take on the tar sands. Janina says it’s going to be EPIC and will host the largest tar sands action that the Midwest has seen yet. Organizers say, “People around the country have been standing up to say no to this disastrous pipeline. In the last week there have been three youth-led rallies to tell Obama “Yes We Can Stop the Pipeline,” including one in St. Louis, MO. At Midwest Power Shift we’ll come together for an action to bring our voices together and make it clear to President Obama that young people across the Midwest refuse to let this pipeline cut through our heartland.” Yeah!  The just-posted schedule is here.

Onwards to DC on November 6th

Before there was #occupy this fall, thousands showed up in September at the White House and Parliament to say no to the Keystone XL pipeline – loud and clear! Lots of updates appear daily on the Tar Sands Action site with info about the action on Nov 6. As they say in the Call to Action,

“… there’s real momentum for action, and real need. We have less than 90 days to convince the President not to approve the pipeline. So here’s the thing: we need your help again. We need you to keep using your creativity and bodies as a part of this struggle—to fight this fight even though there’s no guarantee of victory … On Sunday November 6 we will return to Washington. Exactly one year before the election, we want to encircle the whole White House in an act of solemn protest. We need to remind President Obama of the power of the movement that he rode to the White House in 2008. This issue is much bigger than any individual person, President or not, and that we will carry on, with or without him.”

Join me, and thousand others – sign up here.

And finally:

Friends at 350.org want us all to know: Why should people who care about the climate join the #occupy movement? Here’s one answer: for years, Wall Street has been occupying our atmosphere, backing the huge oil, gas and coal corporations that have polluted our air, water and communities with impunity. And time and again, these members of the 1% have blocked the clean energy and climate legislation that would benefit the other 99% of us.

If you can’t come Nov 6th, follow the action and learn more about what you can do here.

Photo Credit: Tar Sands Action (video still)

On Sunday, November 6th the Tar Sands Action will return to Washington D.C. for a massive rally that sends an unmistakable message to the President.

The following is a statement and call to action issued by a diverse group of movement leaders about this momentous action:

Exactly one year before the next presidential election, we want to encircle the whole White House to ask President Obama to reject Keystone XL and live up to his promise to free us from the tyranny of oil. In doing so, we want to remind him of the power of the movement that he rode to the White House in 2008. This is bigger than any one person – President or no – and we will carry on, with or without him.

We’ve never tried something this ambitious before, and we don’t know if there are the thousands of people that it will take to encircle the White House. But if we can pull it off, it will be an unmistakable message. Also, we’re not expecting any arrests at this action, which means that anyone and everyone is able to participate.

Bill McKibben had this message to share about the Nov. 6th event:

November 6th will be a crucial moment for everyone hoping to stop Keystone  XL. We don’t have very much time – the President will make a decision about the pipeline in  December – so it’s critical that we make this action as large as  possible. If the President sees that our movement has the strength to do something as ambitious as encircle the White House, he’ll know there  will be real consequences for not living up to his promises. We hope that exactly one year from the next election, he would take that as a sign he needs to change course and start living up to the high expectations he set in 2008.

TAKE ACTION

Join the sit-in this Monday, October 26!

Update: Monday Sept 26 – over 180 people were arrested for trespassing on Parliament Hill this morning including Maude Barlow, national chairperson at the Council of Canadians, Dave Coles, President of the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers union and CEP Executive Assistant, Fred Wilson, Graham Saul of Climate Action Network and Mikisew Cree George Poitras. Check here for photos: CEP’s flickr photostream and Council of Canadians photostream
Thank you everyone!

On Monday, Sept 26 hundreds will gather in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, to protest the building of the Keystone XL pipeline from the tar sands of Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico.

On the heels of the massive Tar Sands Action at the White House at the end of August, the invitation to mirror the DC action was issued by the Council of Canadians, Greenpeace Canada and the Indigenous Environment Network with a long list of expert, celebrity, organization and activist endorsements. While we in the US work to show President Obama that he has the support to stand up to the oil and gas industry and say no to the pipeline (he’s scheduled to approve the application this year), our Canadian and First Nations friends will be pressuring Prime Minister Harper to stop this massive increase in tar sands exploitation.

In August, I posted a blog with a link to a short film I helped put together called The Oil Up There. It’s worth encouraging you and others to watch it again – and remind ourselves why an expansion of the tar sands is a disaster for both people and the planet.

Daily from August 20 – September 3, hundreds of people joined the Tar Sands Action in Washington DC, where more than 1200 people were arrested at the White House in what is being called the largest act of civil disobedience in defense of the environment in US history.

The DC days of action were colourful and moving and folks from all across the continent stepped up. It’s been noted that a photo of the arrest of NASA scientist James Hansen sums up the dire and immediate situation if Keystone XL goes ahead. In 1988 he testified on climate change to congressional committees about global warming and the need to take action to limit climate change. Twenty-three years later that message needs to be heard louder than ever.

This week the Canadian Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) held a briefing with Members of Parliament, calling for a reversal of the Keystone XL permit and raised questions about the apparently expired certificate approval held by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline CP Ltd, and whether President Obama thus has the ability to approve an international pipeline with an expired certificate and required National Energy Board (NEB) approval. In a letter to the NEB dated September 23, they note:

Condition #22 to that Certificate stipulated that:
Unless the Board otherwise directs prior to 11 March 2011, this Certificate shall expire on 11 March 2011 unless construction in respect of the Project has commenced by that date.
Our understanding is that the Board made no direction prior to March 11, 2011, and that no construction in respect of the Project had commenced by that date. Accordingly, OC-56 expired on March 11, 2011, and there is no current approval that would allow TCPL to proceed further with the Keystone XL pipeline.

Stay tuned.

To my friends in Canada, I wish I could be there with you on Monday, and thank you/meegwetch!

For those of you in Canada, visit the Ottawa Tar Sands Action web page to find out how you can get involved. Read Council of Canadians campaigner, Andrea Harden-Donahue’s, thoughts before the protest, here.

 In the U.S., the actions against the Tar Sands have not slowed. According to 350.org, the State Department is holding a number of public hearings on the proposed pipeline, and community members are being asked to attend the meetings and testify.

Get involved from wherever you are and STOP KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE.