Pipeline Fighters scored a victory last night when the bill to fast-track Keystone XL was defeated in the Senate.
We are grateful to the members of the Cowboy Indian Alliance — including farmer Art Tanderup, Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Cyril Scott, Aldo Seoane, Greg Grey Cloud and Bold’s Jane Kleeb — who traveled to DC to ratchet up the pressure on wavering Senators to vote NO.
During the floor debate on the bill, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) brought up the work of Bold Nebraska and the Cowboy Indian Alliance, and read a statement from Bold Nebraska’s Ben Gotschall into the Congressional record:
Following the announcement by Sen. Elizabeth Warren that the Senate voted to block Keystone XL, a Native song of victory and thanksgiving rang out through the Senate chamber — sung by none other than our friend and Cowboy Indian Alliance member Greg Grey Cloud.
The bill’s stinging defeat should send a strong signal to the incoming GOP-led Congress, which intends to bring Keystone XL up for a vote again in January, that farmers, ranchers and tribes will never back down in the face of their oil-soaked agenda.
We call on President Obama to stand up and reject Keystone XL now.
This risky tarsands pipeline clearly fails the President’s own climate test, and as the Senators opposed to Keystone proved during yesterday’s debate — it is not in the U.S. national interest. Pres. Obama has all the facts he needs now to reject this pipeline.