UPDATE: The activists claim to have met their goal. A counter on 350.org indicates that 600,000-plus messages have been sent.
Environmental activists are staging a 24-hour campaign to send 500,000 messages to senators urging them to oppose legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline that could come up for a vote in the Senate this week.
A coalition of groups including 350.org launched the campaign the same day a group of Republican senators filed a Keystone XL amendment they want to attach to the upper chamber’s bill for reauthorizing surface-transportation programs. That amendment counts Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., among its supporters.
“The next 24 hours are going to be a crucial time to show that the American people are sick and tired of this Senate circus and want Congress to stand with President Obama and kill the pipeline zombie once and for all,” the 350.org website says. The campaign runs from noon today until noon tomorrow.
Republicans in both chambers have been pushing legislation that would approve the pipeline as they seek to circumvent the Obama administration’s denial of a permit for the project on Jan. 18. Republicans call the decision a politically motivated tactic to punt again until after the elections, but the administration and President Obama himself have said the decision stemmed from the GOP’s successful effort to impose a decision deadline that didn’t provide enough time to do a crucial environmental review of a new route around environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska.
As Democrats hold 53 seats in the Senate, the amendment faces difficult odds. The amendment, which mirrors a bill fronted by Hoeven, would approve the pipeline from Canada’s tar sands to Gulf Coast refineries using Congress’ authority to regulate foreign commerce under the commerce clause of the Constitution. It would also give Nebraska the opportunity to pick and finalize a new route in its borders.
But Hoeven’s bill has just one Democratic cosponsor — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. And it’s unclear whether the amendment will even come up for a vote, much less be adopted, as Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., have repeatedly expressed opposition to Keystone XL legislation.
“We will work to get a vote on it, but we don’t control the timing,” Neil Brown, an adviser to Lugar, said in an email.
Environmentalists strongly oppose the pipeline, saying it wouldn’t bring the jobs and energy security that supporters have claimed it would all while posing a pollution threat.
They also claim it would carry an especially dirty type of oil that requires more energy to extract than conventional oil does, putting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Among the messages the campaign plans to deliver to the senators is a letter from 15 climate scientists who make that very argument.
“Adding this on top of conventional fossil fuels will leave our children and grandchildren a climate system with consequences that are out of their control,” wrote the scientists, among them James Hansen, who heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
Supporters of the pipeline, who have long claimed it would create jobs and boost energy security, say that Canada will probably develop its tar sands no matter what and that it’s better to have the oil come to the U.S., where refineries are subject to stricter environmental standards.
It used to be called “Pork”. Now that the Republicans are at it…..all is quiet on the chambers front. What is also in the attachment is the relentless “tax break” or “permanent tax extension” for the wealthy. How did that conservative radio announcer put it, when the “ObamaCare” legislation was being pushed: “trust me somewhere in the bill, there is medical coverage provided for illegal aliens”. Even though the bill specifically stated “no illegal aliens” would benefit from “ObamaCare”.
….
So trust “Spendmoney”: this attachment has a “tax cut” for the wealthy…somewhere in it.
This junket of a newspaper refuses to acknowledge that there are many many more Americans in favor of Keystone then are opposed
Yes, Yes, Yes!
And these folks are going to be the first to scream when theres no gas at the pump or it $10 a gallon. But then again I’m sure they all ride bicycles or walk!
It never ceases to amaze me how ill-informed some people can be. Do they not know that stopping the XL pipeline will in NO WAY stop the Canadian tar sands extraction? All it means is that the oil will go to China and other developing countries, while we continue to import oil.
Wow! What a one sided blog submission on the Chronicle site. The casual reader would be hard pressed to find even one good reason to support this project but several to oppose it.
How about a comment about improving energy security (something the country has been chasing for over 40 years)?
Or what about lowering oil and gasoline prices (which have increased since the permit denial)?
Or even providing a conduit for northern US produced crude to come to market?
As a final comment this shouldn’t be the Fuel Fix site but the Fuel Broken site with entries like this.
keep the pressure on those republican senators. I am calling my two senators tomorrow and encourage them to vote no.
So what. Let them waste their own time with their stupid signatures.
What planet do these environmental nutjobs live on? If they want to walk or bike to work fine. I perfer to drive and help create jobs and get away from being dependent on the middle eastern oil.
THESE MUST BE MOST OF THE PEOPLE ON THE PUBLIC DOLE. THEY DON’T WANT ANYTHING THAT WILL CREATE JOBS. GOD FORBID THEY MIGHT HAVE TO GO TO WORK.
Maybe this group isn’t aware of the thousands of pipelines throughout the entire country.It is rare to hear about one leaking.
Once again the Chronicle is totally slanted in their reporting and on the wrong side of the issues. A vast majortiy of Americans and even more Texans support the Keystone Project.
The Chronicle is a joke and makes yellow journalism look honorable.
Dear Chronicle Editors – why is your newspaper so slanted and liberal? You are not even close to being objective. It is no wonder your newspaper is losing subscribers. You are totally out of touch with your customer base. The majority of Houstonians are conservative and family-oriented, yet your newspaper never promotes pro-family stories. Instead you focus all of your energy and attention on the far-left, liberal agenda whether it be liberal social issues or liberal economic policies.
It is sad to see the Chronicle’s demise. Just a few short years ago, it was a reputable newspaper – now you are a joke just like our President.
only a fool and a moron would vote against this pipeline. the ones protesting the pipeline have already proven they are ignorant fools who are emotionally inept.
I know two democrat senators from Montana, Baucus and Tester that also support the xl.
Boy, the morons are out in force here, aren’t they?
And projecting their shocking depth of stupidity onto others, of course..
They should consider themselves lucky we don’t just deport them or use THEM for fuel.
“This junket of a newspaper refuses to acknowledge that there are many many more Americans in favor of Keystone then are opposed”
Not sure if that’s accurate, but of course it doesn’t matter if it is.
A majority of Americans are in favor of discrimination against homosexuals, just like a majority of Americans were against women getting the right to vote, interracial marriage, etc., and a majority of Americans still deny evolution and believe in Bible fairy tales.
The majority of Americans are idiots.
Luckily sometimes our government manages to do the right thing despite that, and this (so far) is one of those times.
“And these folks are going to be the first to scream when theres no gas at the pump or it $10 a gallon. But then again I’m sure they all ride bicycles or walk!”
Probably as wrong as it is irrelevant.
I’m sure that whiny, arrogant people like you will be screaming long before us, and many would be happy if gas reached a more realistic price that like because it would more accurately reflect the true cost and provoke more alternatives and less waste, and hopefully reduce the absurd problem of obesity in this country in the process.
“It never ceases to amaze me how ill-informed some people can be. Do they not know that stopping the XL pipeline will in NO WAY stop the Canadian tar sands extraction? All it means is that the oil will go to China and other developing countries, while we continue to import oil.”
It never ceases to amaze me how ill-informed many people can be.
Do they not know that stopping the XL pipeline has a good chance of stopping or slowing the tar sands extraction, especially since a whole lot of Canadians are against building an alternate route across Canada?
Have they seriously had their heads so far up somewhere the Sun doesn’t shine that they still don’t know the oil was being exported to China and other countries, developing or not, and the US was going to receive none of it, so we’d continue to import the same amount of oil regardless?
“Wow! What a one sided blog submission on the Chronicle site. The casual reader would be hard pressed to find even one good reason to support this project but several to oppose it.
How about a comment about improving energy security (something the country has been chasing for over 40 years)?
Or what about lowering oil and gasoline prices (which have increased since the permit denial)?
Or even providing a conduit for northern US produced crude to come to market?”
Wow, what a one-sided intellect, if it can be called that.
The casual reader would find an undeservedly well-balanced article, because there isn’t a single reason to support this and far more than several reasons to oppose it, as the smart and honest people and the scientists have been saying all along, and as even Fox “News” finally had to admit. (or were you unaware of that too?)
How about a comment about the FACT that it would do absolutely nothing whatsoever to improve energy security?
Or what about the FACT that it will do absolutely nothing whatsoever to lower oil or gas prices, but will actually increase them? (the prices fluctuate all the time and if they’ve gone up since the permit was denied, it’s either coincidence or a ploy to exploit the foolish and shortsighted like you into supporting it.)
How about the fact that it isn’t intended or even possible to use it as a conduit for northern US crude?
“What planet do these environmental nutjobs live on? If they want to walk or bike to work fine. I perfer to drive and help create jobs and get away from being dependent on the middle eastern oil.”
We live on the same planet as all you knuckledraggers, and unlike you, we actually care about it.
This has nothing to do with walking or biking to work, but chances are, you’re probably obese and could use a good workout and some fresh air.
And, of course, as everyone but you ridiculous people know by now and even the Keystone people admit, this has nothing to do with and has no effect on US dependence on Middle Eastern oil, and will only create a few thousand temporary jobs.
“THESE MUST BE MOST OF THE PEOPLE ON THE PUBLIC DOLE. THEY DON’T WANT ANYTHING THAT WILL CREATE JOBS. GOD FORBID THEY MIGHT HAVE TO GO TO WORK.”
STUPID AND PETTY DOESN’T SOUND ANY BETTER WHEN YOU YELL IT IN CAPS.
“Maybe this group isn’t aware of the thousands of pipelines throughout the entire country.It is rare to hear about one leaking.”
Maybe your group isn’t aware that it isn’t rare at all to hear about one leaking, and even less rare for them to leak, and that the reason we don’t hear even more about it is because they’re usually covered up, and the ones that can’t be are downplayed, and they’re all usually ignored because they’re not as important as this one and people, especially ones like you, can’t be bothered to pay attention to everything and be discomforted thinking about how bad it all is.
“Once again the Chronicle is totally slanted in their reporting and on the wrong side of the issues. A vast majortiy of Americans and even more Texans support the Keystone Project.
The Chronicle is a joke and makes yellow journalism look honorable.”
Once again, they’re not slanted on it.. they’re quite unjustifiably balanced.
Just because you’re butthurt that they don’t fully support your ridiculous and offensively ignorant viewpoint doesn’t mean they’re slanted.
As many of the comments here show, Texas is so full of stupid that it should be given to Mexico, so it’s hilarious to even mention it in an argument, but again, if we let a majority of ignorant and delusional Americans make policy, we’d all be teaching creationist fairy tales in science class, allowing slavery, and all manner of idiotic and immoral things.
Your lack of critical thinking skills and a grasp on reality makes smoking crack look honorable.
“Blah blah blah, etc., now you are a joke just like our President.”
Obama is a joke, yes, but .02% the joke that Bush was, and I’ll assume you voted for him, despite his criminal record and double digit IQ, and almost assuredly the second time around as well, despite the whole world outside your sphere of stupidity knowing he was a war criminal and a usurper of the presidency by that point.
“only a fool and a moron would vote against this pipeline. the ones protesting the pipeline have already proven they are ignorant fools who are emotionally inept.”
Biggest pot in the world calls smallest kettle in the world black… film at 11.
What the hell is “emotionally inept” anyway?
Did you make that up to get some use out of your child’s word-of-the-day calendar?
The ones protesting, including me, have proven they’re the only ones with the morality and intelligence to care about the environment and take the time and energy to educate ourselves and act in the best interest of the country, society, and the planet, even though it might be a little inconvenient.
Maybe some of you might want to actually do SOMETHING to inform yourselves, rather than just looking like blathering imbeciles and paid trolls for the oil industry, even if it’s just paying attention to Fox: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/01/18/six-reasons-keystone-xl-was-bad-deal-all-along/
just quick shots Michael – stopping Keystone XL will not stop tar sand production. It’s comments like those that tip your hand and express why you are really against that project. It isn’t aquifers, misrepresented job creation, or domestic energy policies, it’s an environmentally driven agenda against a job, wealth, and energy creating project such as the tar sands. While the Keystone XL would have benefitted the US, you and other groups used it as a platform of protest for a hidden agenda against “dirty oil.” The O&G companies involved in the Tar Sands projects will simply find other ways to get their goods to market.
And yes it would have benefitted the US – whether it’s 6,000 or 20,000 temporary jobs…they are still jobs. There would have been access points for US domestic crude entry, granted the majority of pipe capacity is spoken for, but 100-150k bbld capacity is better than nothing. The XL could have helped alleviate the current bottleneck of excess crude supply at Cushing, OK meaning getting more supply to market, thus lower the price. Maybe next time before you soapbox everyone, you will do a little research as well.
Full blood LAKOTA here and I say NO to dirty tar sands through my fresh water supply!
@WestTexas
“All it means is that the oil will go to China and other developing countries, while we continue to import oil.”
Keystone XL oil IS imported oil genius!
Republicans were asked to get on board a Democrat bill that would restrict exports of oil delivered by the Keystone XL from the US free trade zone and secure Democrat support for the project.
Wonder how many (R)’s will jump at that chance?
Wow – Michael the moron is out again! There are still people who don’t have a clue – and:
So how can a recent poll released by Fox News find that 67 percent of Americans support the tar sands pipeline? The answer is that Fox News didn’t specify that this is a tar sands pipeline – different from regular oil pipelines in its risk of oil spills and in how much worse tar sands is for the climate than regular oil. In this, the Fox News poll differs markedly from another recent poll by Hart Research where respondents backed President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, 46 percent to 37 percent. Once Americans understand the risks of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, they say no to this dirty energy project. We know that we can do better than tar sands to meet our energy needs.
Bitumen extraction is extremely toxic and has killed many residents living in the area with rare cancers. Also many muskrat populations have declined in the region too. They have determined that those giant arsenic dams are leeching toxins into the waterways that people and animals use. Naturally, big corporations sponsor politicians and try to hide it. Now they want to export their dirty “oil” across our agricultural belt and aquifers that the populations in the SW rely on. Oil companies don’t inspect those pipelines nearly as frequently as they let on.
Time to find some new alternative energy resources and better conservation methods.
Public records show that these pipelines will not only cause severe damage to the environment but will also cause long term earth exhaustion. Such project should not be voted off by the senators and they must see for the future not only for today.