January 26, 2015 -- Update: Thousands of people in more than 150 communities across all 50 states showed up for the KXL solidarity events. Now we need your voice to tell your senators to vote NO on Keystone XL!
In what turned out to be a surprise to virtually no one, the House voted yet again to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline last Friday. This is the 10th time in recent years that the House has cast such a vote, but for the first time, the Senate is expected to follow suit. Last Congress, the Democratic controlled Senate has blocked legislation forcing approval of the dirty and dangerous pipeline. But, as 2014 bowed out, a Republican-controlled Senate took control in 2015.
Republican leaders in Congress have pledged to force a vote on Keystone XL first thing -- a move that will assuredly have consequences for both our environment and the fossil fuel billionaires that have been stuffing the pockets of the new Republican Congressional majority.
Take Joni Ernst for example, a new Senator from Iowa who said she wanted to get rid of the EPA -- a federal watchdog agency that for over 40 years has been responsible for protecting Americans and our country by enforcing the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, banning the use of the pesticide DDT, acting on the climate crisis, and increasing recycling. Senator Ernst directly received more than $200,000 from the oil and gas industry and more than $20,000 from the big polluting Koch Brothers in the 2014 midterm election -- and, surprise surprise, she supports Keystone XL. The worst part? Senator Ernst isn’t alone.
In the 2014 midterm election alone, the oil and gas industry donated a whopping $18,168,967 to candidates, including newly elected Republican Senators Cory Gardner (CO), Bill Cassidy (LA), and Shelley Moore Capito (WV), just to name a few. On top of that, Koch Industries donated $7,703,185 to candidates and spent $9,460,000 on lobbying in 2014 So what does this mean as Congress moves forward on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline?
The Senate vote is expected by the end of January, where it is expected to pass with the support of the new big oil-backed Republicans taking office. But before toxic Canadian tar sands will be pumped through the U.S., the fate of Keystone XL rests with a tough critic: President Obama.
Fresh off of dismissing the arguments of pipeline proponents, President Obama has signalled to Congress that he stands ready to veto the Keystone XL legislation and its attack on his executive authority. And that makes sense -- the decision to approve or reject Keystone XL has always rested with President Obama.In the meantime, while legislation forcing approval of Keystone XL did pass the House, it did not receive the two-thirds majority needed to override a Presidential veto. Likewise, it is anticipated that the Senate can’t muster the votes to override a veto, either. This means that if the bill does in fact land on the President’s desk, his veto could stop this bill in its tracks. Then, we’ll continue to urge him to take the next logical step and reject Keystone XL all together.
If his recent comments are any indication, he’ll do exactly that. At his end-of-year press conference for 2014, he rejected the idea that Keystone XL would have any effect on gas prices at home, pointed out that its a project that essentially only benefits Canadian oil companies, and noted its designed to help those very companies export this oil overseas. That led to headlines like "Obama Sounds Like He’s About to Reject the Keystone Pipeline."
We’d have to agree.
Still, as it stands, the State Department has yet to finish its evaluation of the pipeline. A Nebraska Supreme Court decision last week failed to scrap a law setting the route of this pipeline, but, even still, President Obama has signaled that he is unwilling to move forward with the bill Congress is considering.
If President Obama heeds the climate test he established in his July 2013 speech at Georgetown University, he’ll recognize the fact that the Keystone XL pipeline will “significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution” and therefore reject it. He has all the evidence he needs -- so we remain confident that he will make it official.
But we need more voices to carry that message. Now is the time to let President Obama know that we’re behind his decision to protect the health and futures of our families and environment. Join with us tonight as we stand together and tell President Obama now is the time to reject the Keystone XL pipeline once and for all.
P.S. For a quick, lighthearted refresher on Keystone XL, watch our video, below: