FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2010
CONTACT:
Kristina Johnson, Sierra Club (415) 977-5619
COALITION LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE AD CAMPAIGN CALLING FOR OBAMA AND CLINTON TO STOP TOXIC OIL PIPELINE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – An international coalition of environmental and community groups has launched a national ad campaign calling on President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to stop a pipeline designed to carry the world’s dirtiest oil through American communities.
The advertising campaign will include primetime television ads on CNN, MSNBC, and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and Colbert Report. In addition, the Sierra Club is running ads on Politico.com calling on Secretary Clinton to say no to the pipeline.
PREVIEW OF TV ADS HERE: http://dirtyoilsands.org/dirtyspots/category/keystone_xl/obamas_choice/
“This toxic pipeline would put American drinking water, air, and farmland at great risk,” said Sierra Club Dirty Fuels Campaign Director Kate Colarulli. “We’re confident that once Americans learn about this risky foreign oil pipeline, they will join us in calling on President Obama and Secretary Clinton to stop it.”
The State Department must approve a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry toxic tar sands oil from Canada across America’s Midwest and into Texas, putting drinking water and farmland at risk. Dozens of members of Congress, along with the EPA, DOE and others have raised concerns about the safety of the pipeline and are calling on Secretary Clinton to require a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, which would mandate additional analysis and a chance for the public to officially comment on the new information.
In addition to threatening water and farming communities in America, the pipeline would support a growing environmental disaster in Alberta, where the oil is mined by clear-cutting ancient forest and leaving toxic lakes behind. It would also add to the problem of climate disruption, since tar sands oil creates roughly three times as much global warming pollution as conventional oil.
“Building this pipeline would be like putting 6.5 million new cars on America’s roads, right when we are making strides in fighting global warming pollution,” Colarulli said. “The Obama administration and Secretary Clinton have signaled that they are ready to leave dirty fuels behind and embrace clean energy jobs. This pipeline would represent a giant step in the wrong direction.”
The ads follow a series of events around the country earlier this month protesting Keystone XL and the release of a Sierra Club report profiling people affected by tar sands expansion.
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The No Tar Sands Oil campaign is an effort to stop the expansion of the Canadian tar sands, advocate for its clean up and propel new energy alternatives. No Tar Sands Oil is supported by an international network of environmental, citizen and indigenous groups, including Corporate Ethics International, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Earthworks, Plains Justice, Rainforest Action Network, Indigenous Environmental Network, Western Organization of Resource Councils, Earthjustice, Global Community Monitor, Forest Ethics, Dogwood Initiative, Honor the Earth, Dakota Rural Action, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Save Union County, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Sierra Club of Canada – Prairie Chapter.