On Friday, March 14, 27 members of the U.S. House, including Reps. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Rush Holt (NJ-12) and Raul Grijalva (AZ-3), held a press conference to reiterate their opposition to the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and to discuss their letter to Secretary of State John Kerry calling on him to reject the pipeline (embedded below).
Members of Congress Speak out Against the Keystone XL Pipeline
Urge Kerry to “keep tar sands oil in the ground”
Washington — This morning, U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Rush Holt (NJ-12) and Raul Grijalva (AZ-3) held a press conference to reiterate their opposition to the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and to discuss their letter to Secretary of State John Kerry calling on him to reject the pipeline.
The letter, signed by 27 members of Congress, hones in on the pipeline’s climate impacts: “The math doesn’t add up. In order to meet our commitment to fight climate change, we need to keep at least 80 percent of carbon reserves below ground.” The letter concludes: “If the United States is truly committed to avoiding a 2 degree temperature increase, we have to start by resisting this pipeline. We urge you to reject the pipeline and keep tar sands oil in the ground where it belongs.”
The letter cites the work of climate scientist James Hansen, who testified to Keystone XL’s climate impacts before the Senate Foreign Relations committee yesterday. The members were joined by student climate activists from American University, two of 398 students arrested in front of the White House earlier this month protesting Keystone XL.
350.org co-founder Bill McKibben commented on the importance of the letter, “More Americans have gone to jail, marched, and written public comments opposing the Keystone pipeline than any project in history–and they’re all buoyed when they see our leaders in DC stand up for the future, not for fossil fuel!”
Lena Moffitt, of the National Wildlife Federation, added, “Tar sands will worsen climate change and the Keystone XL fails the President’s own test. We hope he keeps his promise and rejects this risky pipeline. Tar sands directly threatens some of our most iconic species, like the critically endangered Whooping crane, and the carbon pollution from tar sands imperils all wildlife.”
###
