John Steiner: Department of State Betrays Public Trust, Lies on Keystone — Bill McKibben Organizing National Confrontation

05 Energy, 11 Society, Corruption, Government
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John Steiner
John Steiner

From: “Bill McKibben
Reply-To: <organizers@350.org>
Date: Fri, 01 Mar 2013
Subject: Breaking news on Keystone XL

Friends,

Yesterday Time Magazine declared that Keystone had become the Stonewall and the Selma of the climate movement — and today we got a reminder of just how tough those fights were, and how tough this one will be.

On a Friday afternoon, with Secretary of State John Kerry half a world away and D.C. focused on the budget fight, the State Department released a new environmental impact statement for the pipeline. Like the last such report, it found that approving a 800,000 barrel-a-day fuse to one of the planet¹s biggest carbon bombs was ³unlikely to have a substantial impact² on the tar sands or the climate.

That, in a word, is nonsense — some of our most important climate scientists in the U.S. have written the State Department to explain exactly how dangerous Keystone is. Just yesterday Europe¹s top climate diplomat
pointed out that it would send a truly terrible signal to the rest of the world.

President Obama will be making a decision in a few short months. I won¹t lie: today¹s report makes the odds look even tougher — and the power of the fossil fuel lobby hasn¹t waned one bit.

But I¹m reminded that the last time the State Department issued an environmental impact statement about the pipeline, we were just beginning this fight. That day in 2011, 50 people were arrested at the White House
during the very first wave of protests against the pipeline.

This time around we¹re tens of thousands of people stronger, and once again, I think we are just beginning to fight.

In these next months we need to send a signal to the White House that we¹re not standing down. There are two things I think we should begin working on immediately.

First — since it¹s clear that the polite but firm warnings of our top climate scientists aren¹t being heard — anytime that the President or Secretary of State Kerry appears in public, it¹s crucial that we let them
know that we won¹t accept this pipeline or the damage it will do to our climate. We need a team of rapid responders coast-to-coast who can turn around with 24 hours notice and raise a ruckus at these events when we find out about them.

If you can be on call to respond quickly when they visit near you, let us know by adding your name here: Reaction Team Sign-Up.

I should also say that with our global network, both President Obama and Secretary Kerry can expect to hear from folks when they head abroad as well.

Second, we need to raise the heat this spring and summer. Significantly. To get a jump on the season, 350.org and our allies will be hosting a massive day of action and training at venues across the country in May. It will be the first muster for the grassroots army we hope will fan out across the nation this summer, and a unified statement of our intention to fight this pipeline.

If you¹re keen to get involved, click here to add your name as well and we¹ll get in touch about how to make it happen: Day of Action (in May) Sign-Up.

Even as we stick it to the pipeline, we¹re going on offense as well, with a student-led divestment campaign that grows by the day (and increasingly moves off campus to city governments and faith communities too), and a Global Power Shift gathering this June in Turkey to gather young leaders across the globe.

I don¹t know how this will all go down — only that it won¹t go down easily.  After watching Arctic sea ice practically disappear last summer, and Superstorm Sandy hit New York, I can also tell you that this is a key moment for our planet, and your role in it will be remembered for a long, long time — as will the President¹s.

Here¹s how Time put it yesterday: ³There are many climate problems a President can¹t solve, but Keystone XL isn¹t one of them. It¹s a choice between Big Oil and a more sustainable planet.² As with those historic
moments at Stonewall or Selma, ³The right answer isn¹t always somewhere in the middle.²

Thanks for all you¹ve done, and thanks for all you¹ll do.

Bill McKibben

P.S. – We're also going to be hosting strategy sessions across the country on March 10th to cover these things and more. A few have already been set up — see here: act.350.org/event/2013-strategy-sessions/
<http://act.350.org/go/2780?t=3&akid=2772.375661.yXxtbS>  — but if you'd like to host a gathering to plan on all these things together, click to sign up here: act.350.org/event/2013-strategy-sessions/create/
<http://act.350.org/go/2773?t=4&akid=2772.375661.yXxtbS>

350.org <http://350.org>  is building a global movement to solve the climate crisis. Connect with us on Facebook <http://facebook.com/350.org>  and Twitter <http://twitter.com/350> , and sign up for email alerts <http://350.org/signup?akid=2772.375661.yXxtbS> . You can help power our work by getting involved locally, sharing your story <http://local.350.org/stories/?akid=2772.375661.yXxtbS> , and donating here. <http://350.org/donate?akid=2772.375661.yXxtbS>

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