350.org Calls for Public Comment on Keystone XL Pipeline

Submitted by Mary Bottari on

Oil in an Arkansas backyard (Photo by Bill McKibben)After the recent tar sands pipeline spill in Arkansas, where thousands of gallons of toxic oil ran through the streets of a small community, the climate change organization 350.org is asking Americans to join in the public commenting process for the Keystone XL pipeline.

The U.S. State Department is reviewing applications for permits needed for the international pipeline to advance. The State Department is soliciting public comment on the issue until April 22.

350.org, which helped plan a mass rally in Washington, DC on President's Day and mass arrests last year to protest the planned pipeline, now wants to flood the State Department with one million substantive comments from citizens. Learn more here.

The organization is also honoring the retirement of Dr. James Hansen, one of America's most respected climatologists, as head of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies.

350.org leader Bill McKibben explains why Hansen has been so critical to the climate change movement and why public comments on the pipeline are needed:

"One reason we're fighting the pipeline is because Jim Hansen did the math to show that if we combusted the tar sands on top of all else we burn, it would be 'game over for the climate.' So far that message hasn't gotten through: the State Department hired a bunch of compromised oil industry analysts to 'review' KXL, and unsurprisingly they decided it would have 'minimal' environmental impact. We need to get them to take reality seriously, and change that assessment."

If you would like to file a comment, you can do so via the Federal Register or at the 350.org site. Substantive comments from people in the pipeline states are especially useful.

Environment
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Mary Bottari
Mary Bottari

Mary Bottari is a reporter for the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). She helped launch CMD's award-winning ALEC Exposed investigation and is a two-time recipient of the Sidney Prize for public interest journalism from the Sidney Hillman Foundation.

Read more here.

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Comments

Anonymous replied on

This is a classic David vs. Goliath issue that the people need to win.As our planet is continually raped by oil, coal, and natural gas our planet needs an army to defend it.The oil industry is a well oiled machine no pun intended because the propaganda they perpetrate on a daily basis.Funny thing is the taxpayers subsidize them but they never share the profit.Fossil fuel will be the downfall of our planet and the GOP backs everything they want.When yellow journalism being done by fox news with their staple of climate change deniers use god as there tool to deceive simple minds is cause enough to be very alarmed.When greed trumps common sense should cause great concern among the environmentalist.When the propaganda machine they run call activist eco terrorist is the disgusting formula the fuel companies use.As our democracy is not a democracy anymore due to the corporations being given the same rights as a person shows that the supreme court is not balanced and has been bought and payed for by polluters such as exxon mobil bp chevron and many others in the fossil fuel industry.If things don't change soon the human race will cease to exist and it won't be the revelation it will be human greed.