Let’s look beyond the fake grassroots campaigns and bullying of landowners by supporters and planners of the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. Let’s instead look at something even more important: We don’t need this expensive, dangerous and polluting project that only continues our dependence on fossil fuels and threatens our climate - We need better transportation policy.
Our country needs to break its oil dependence and act to prevent climate disruption– and President Obama just made two major decisions on fuel economy and carbon pollution standards for cars and trucks that move us toward that goal. Not only will these standards cut our oil use, but they will also dramatically cut carbon pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that in 2018 the new truck rule alone will reduce carbon pollution by 25 million metric tons annually.
In comparison, the agency’s analysis of the carbon impacts of tar sands oil that the Keystone XL would deliver found that the project would increase annual emissions by 27 million metric tons. Why would the Obama Administration want to undo the progress made with car and truck fuel pollution standards by allowing Keystone XL?
If we are cleaning up cars and trucks of all kinds, then we cannot ignore the fuels going into the cleaner cars. Vehicle standards won't solve our problem if we’re using the dirtiest of fuels out there. The fact is, we cannot stop the threat of climate disruption by moving emissions around. We cannot reduce carbon pollution from vehicles and then increase them again via fuels.
We don’t need Keystone XL or any future tar sands oil projects. Thankfully there are some in Congress who agree – especially on the public health impacts of tar sands. Yesterday, Rep. Hank Johnson sent a letter to the Department of State urging them to conduct a study on the health impacts of raw tar sands crude oil. Johnson was joined by 35 members of the House in exhibiting their responsibility as elected officials to protect the well-being of their constituents, rather than the profits of Big Oil companies.
Instead of dirty, polluting tar sands, what we need is a national transportation plan that cuts demand for oil while increasing mobility and choices. We need sustainable communities that are walkable and bikeable - so we’re not relying more on cars – even ones that use less oil.
The Obama Administration has taken some good strides in reducing our oil dependence with historic vehicle standards. Just one wrong decision such as TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline could undermine these important gains.
The right decision is to say no to the dirtiest fuels – we should say no to Keystone XL.
This post was co-written by Sierra Club Green Transportation Director Ann Mesnikoff and Kate Colarulli, Assistant Director of the Sierra Club Beyond Oil Campaign.
Meteor Blades and PDNC organized this blogathon for August 14-19 before he took a "leave of absence" from Daily Kos last week. For now, this will be the last of many projects, blogathons, and diary series that the two of them have done over the years on environmental, climate change, human rights, and political issues.
In honor and respect for our dear friend and project partner, this blogathon is dedicated to Meteor Blades by our blogathon team of PDNC, rb137 and JekyllnHyde.
"Stop Tar Sands" Blogathon: How You Can Help
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse has coordinated this blogathon with Bill McKibben, who is one of the organizers for a civil disobedience action in DC from August 20th to September 3rd to urge President Obama to not give a presidential permit for the proposed tar sands XL pipeline from Alberta down to Texas. This civil disobedience action is modeled on one that the group Transafrica used outside the Washington Embassy in the 1980s: Nelson Mandela said it played a key role in raising awareness about apartheid. The plan is for a new group of people each day of the two weeks to trespass on the sidewalk in front of the White House.
This is not a protest of President Obama. As Bill McKibben noted, the protest is designed to show President Obama the "depth of support for turning down this boondoggle" as it will be the "biggest civil disobedience protest in the environmental movement for many many years."
We know what the future will look like with the XL pipeline.
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