Keystone XL Is Back: Tell Your Senator to Block It
At the behest of Big Oil, the U.S. House of Representatives has inserted language into an extension of the transportation bill that would grant immediate approval to the Keystone XL pipeline.
If built, Keystone XL would transport dirty tar-sands oil 1,700 miles across six states and hundreds of water bodies, posing an unacceptable risk if spills occurred -- which they would. An existing pipeline called Keystone 1 has already leaked 14 times since becoming operational in June 2010. A single spill dumped 21,000 gallons of tar-sands crude.
The extraction and refinement of tar-sands oil produces two to three times more greenhouse gases per gallon than conventional oil. This represents a massive new source of carbon dioxide emissions that leading climate scientist Dr. James Hansen has called "game over" for our ability to avoid a climate catastrophe.
This pipeline or any other from the tar sands should absolutely not be built. Please write to your senators and ask them to block any legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline.
