Environmental Leaders Tell Obama to Reject Deal on Keystone XL Pipeline

October 4, 2013- The Huffington Post reports that leaders from 25 environmental and climate action groups sent an open letter to President Obama urging him to reject the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and avoid "deal-making" with the Canadian government.

The letter follows a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. report that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered to make emissions reductions in his country's oil and gas sector in exchange for US approval of the Keystone XL.

Leaders of 350.org, Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and 22 other organizations wrote that building Keystone XL will expand production in the tar sands and hurt efforts to battle climate change.

The proposed pipeline requires State Department approval because it would cross an international border. If approved, the pipeline would carry diluted tar sands bitumen nearly 1,200 miles from Alberta to southeastern Nebraska.

In June, Obama declared he would approve the midstream project only if it served the "national interest" by "not significantly [exacerbating] the problem of carbon pollution." Observers noted that there was some ambiguity in the president’s statement.  

To read more, visit: read more

Carnow Conibear and Associates is a demonstrated leader in the occupational and environmental health professions since 1975. To find out more, click here or call us at (800) 860-4486.