Image via WikipediaThousands of opponents of a $7 billion pipeline that would boost U.S. dependence
on Canadian oil sands plan to get arrested in protests over the next two weeks
that they hope will help persuade the Obama administration to kill the
project.
The State Department is set to issue a final environmental impact report this
month on the Keystone XL pipeline project that would bring oil sands petroleum
from Alberta to Texas refineries. The department hopes to make a final decision
on the TransCanada Corp line by the end of the year.
Beginning on Saturday, protesters from all of the country's 50 states plan to
linger in an area outside the White House where they are likely to be arrested,
organizers say. They plan to conduct the civil disobedience citing what they see
as the pipe's risks to the environment in waves of 100 people a day.
Bill McKibben, an environment writer and leader of the protest, said the
Keystone project would likely be President Barack Obama's biggest climate
decision between now and next year's election.
"Since Obama finally has a decision that he gets to make all on his own,
without the Congress in the way, we are so hopeful that Obama will shine
through," McKibben said.
Opponents want the administration to stop the pipeline, which would deliver
up to 700,000 barrels per day of oil to Gulf Coast refineries, because it would
cross water sources that could be vulnerable to spills. Also, oil sands
petroleum emits more carbon dioxide than average crude oils.
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