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Keystone

Keystone Pipeline Spills Over 200,000 Gallons Of Tar Sands

By Robinson Meyer for The Atlantic. South Dakota - The Keystone pipeline was temporarily shut down on Thursday, after leaking about 210,000 gallons of [tar sands] oil into Marshall County, South Dakota, during an early-morning spill. TransCanada, the company which operates the pipeline, said it noticed a loss of pressure in Keystone at about 5:45 a.m. According to a company statement, workers had “completely isolated” the section and “activated emergency procedures” within 15 minutes. Brian Walsh, a state environmental scientist, told the local station KSFY that TransCanada informed the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources about the spill by 10:30 a.m.

‘Keystone Killer’ Rallies Opponents To Mountain Valley Pipeline

By Staff of The Richmond Times Dispatch - BOONES MILL — Nebraskan Jane Kleeb, dubbed the "Keystone killer" by Rolling Stone magazine and described elsewhere as a pipeline road warrior, met Friday morning in Boones Mill with foes of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline to share her take on grassroots activism. She told a crowd of about 40 people, gathered in an apartment complex's community hall, that to beat the Mountain Valley Pipeline they must remain united and believe they can win.

Beyond Keystone: Why Climate Movement Must Keep Heat On

By Bill Mckibben for Environment 360 - The key passage — the forward-looking passage — of President Obama’s speech last week rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline came right at the end, after he rehashed all the arguments about jobs and gas prices that had been litigated endlessly over the last few years. “Ultimately,” he said, “if we’re going to prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we’re going to have keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them and release more dangerous pollution into the sky.” This is a remarkable evolution for the president. He came into office with “Drill Baby Drill” ringing in his ears from the 2008 Republican convention, and baby did he drill.

Indigenous Fight KXL With Spirit Camp

If you head south on route 183 in central South Dakota, you'll see sprawling farmland all around you. Bald eagles, some as tall as children, will stand guard at the side of the road and swoop low over your car. And if you look to the left at the right moment, you'll see a circle of five giant, white teepees standing in the center of one of the fields. You may wonder what they're doing there, and if you're inclined to take a detour off the highway, the people living in the teepees will welcome you with food and stories of why they're there. Since March, Keith Fielder has been one of the people living in those teepees. The teepees make up a Spirit Camp, built in opposition to TransCanada Corporation's proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

6 Years Of Powerful Resistance To KXL

Six years ago climate activists, Native American groups, ranchers, farmers, students and other began their ongoing campaign to block the proposed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, intended to carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico to be shipped overseas. In that time, more than 2,000 activists have been arrested, more than 50,000 rallied in Washington, D.C. in February 2013 to protest the pipeline, and countless small groups have gathered in their own communities to demonstrate against it. Because the pipeline is unbuilt, 1,818,530,000 barrels of tar sands oil remain in the ground, and more than one billion metric tons of CO2 has been keep out of the atmosphere.

Lakota Warriors Vow ‘Dead or in Prison Before We Allow’ Pipeline

The Oglala Lakota Nation is actively fighting the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This 1,700-mile pipeline, which would carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil each day from western Canada through South Dakota en route to Texas. At two points it would even intersect with a pipeline that serves as a main water source for the Sioux Nation, affecting all of the Pine Ridge reservation as well as the nearby Rosebud reservation. “Dead or in prison before we allow the Keystone XL pipeline to pass,” the Lakota warriors, many mounted atop horses, repeated during the Liberation Day celebration. Their words carried the weight of 521 years, and counting, of lived resistance.

Arch-Bishop Desmond Tutu Leads Global Call for Kerry to Reject Keystone XL

Supporting Desmond Tutu in signing the letter were Dr James Hansen who was the former head of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Yeb Saño - Climate leader, Philippines, the actress Daryl Hannah and director Fernando Meirelles together with 4 leading environmental politicians from across the world. The letter was coordinated by the global civic movement Avaaz which saw 930,000 people from every country across the planet call on Kerry not to back the deal. The group also released a hard-hitting ad campaign across the DC Metro which can be seen here below and will be joining the protests outside the State department today.

White House: Environmentalists Continue Fight Against Keystone KXL

The largest inland oil spill in U.S. history occurred from a pipeline operated by Enbridge, carrying the same tar sands the Keystone XL will carry. The 840,000 gallon spill of diluted bitumen, known as “dilbit,” occurred in Tallmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River on July 25, 2010, resulting in a wipe-out of river life and flora. The fallout flowed downriver, damaging property and health of local residents. Aiken says this is a warning for future pipeline construction. But central to environmentalist’s arguments against Keystone XL are the effects it would have on climate due to greenhouse gas carbon emissions. The SEIS analysis considered the emissions of the pipeline itself, not the emissions created from combustion of fuels it transports. “The tar sands are the dirtiest form of oil we have on the earth,” said Cowley. “The amount of tar sands that would be exported would be game over for the climate.”

First Use Of Terrorism Law Against KXL Protesters For Glitter-Terror

On December 13, several people entered Devon Tower in downtown Oklahoma City to protest Devon, an energy company involved in natural gas and oil production that involves fracking. They are also invested and involved in tar sands mining in Canada. Devon Energy CEO John Richels sits on TransCanada’s Board of Directors. In an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, two individuals locked themselves with a bike lock inside one of the multiple revolving doors that lead into the atrium of Devon Tower. Two other individuals unfurled a banner from the second floor. The banner had the Mockingjay emblem on it from The Hunger Games and a slogan read, “The odds are never in our favor.” Simultaneously, another banner was unfurled that indicated support for indigenous activists in Canada who have been fighting to prevent energy extraction on their land. According to attorney Douglas Parr, who is representing the two individuals who unfurled The Hunger Games banner, glitter “fell off the banner” and on to the floor of the atrium.
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