Protecting Mother Earth: Forward on Climate Rally

Denée Reaves, Program Assistant, International, Washington, D.C.

Despite the cold windy day today, more than 35,000 people came out for the Forward on Climate rally on the national mall to support action being taken on climate change. Groups representing every walk of life showed their solidarity in a peaceful friendly environment. Chants, dancing and bands abounded. Signs calling for a denial of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, limits on carbon pollution from power plants, and investment in renewable energies could be seen everywhere you looked. But although the atmosphere was jovial, the issues we are fighting for are not. Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus said it best when he compared this rally to the one attended by Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago; people came out to the mall then to fight for equality, but we are here now fighting for existence.

The rally, organized by 350.org, Sierra Club, NRDC and many others was graced by speakers such as 350.org founder Bill McKibben, Rebuild a Dream President and NRDC Trustee Van Jones, actor Rosario Dawson, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and many representatives from First Nations, including Chief Jacqueline Thomas representing the Yinka Dene Alliance from British Columbia, Canada. Each speaker that approached the podium revved up the crowd with their heartfelt words and important messages. But as I was listening to these wonderful speakers, what struck me most were not the people on the stage, but the people in the audience. The crowd was overwhelmingly filled with Millennials.

Every way I turned I saw the people of my generation standing, shouting, stomping and screaming for a change in the way we look at and deal with climate change in our country. It is of the utmost importance to me that those of my generation are taking the issues of climate change to heart, and they did not disappoint today. One girl stopped me as I was walking in my bright red NRDC Forward on Climate hat, and asked me where I got it from. I replied that I work with the organization. This girl had worked one summer in our Santa Monica office and claimed it was the best summer she had ever had, and further went on to tell me I had the best job in the world. She was right.

The Forward on Climate Rally in DC was complimented by many sister rallies across the country. All of these rallies support the same cause: a better way of treating our planet, because as Chief Thomas' Medicine Woman grandmother put it when speaking about Mother Earth, "If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you."

Photo Credit: Josh Mogerman, NRDC

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dreaves/protecting_mother_earth_forw

More than 35,000 Rally to Protect Our Climate

Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Director International Program, Washington, D.C.

On February 17, more than 35,000 braved the icy temperatures to take a message of hope for our climate to the President's doorstep. Marching in a human pipeline around the White House, people from across America and Canada also showed what real solidarity and neighborliness looks like.

Good neighbors don't push dirty energy projects such as the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that hurt communities, water and climate. Good neighbors and allies work together to bring leadership to tackle climate change and build a clean energy future. Good neighbors build solidarity around a common vision of the world we want for ourselves and our children: one without the threats of ever worsening climate change causing droughts, wildfires, floods and violent storms. That solidarity exists with the people of Canada and yet is overshadowed in the press by the latest attempt to push the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is not in our national interest for many reasons and should not be built. This is something that both Canadians and Americans are saying. At the rally today, Crystal Lameman from the Beaver Lake Cree Nation in Alberta put it very well: "We can't eat money and we can't drink oil." And Chief Jacqueline Thomas of the Yinka Dene Alliance in British Columbia said, "We have faith that people will do the right thing to protect Mother Earth."

Over time, the oil industry has found many ways to push the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. We have seen wildly exaggerated jobs numbers that falsely raised hope in areas that need work. We have seen arguments about energy security which were unbelievable considering this is a pipeline meant mostly for export. We have seen claims that if the US didn't take the tar sands it would go to Asia even though Canadians were saying "no" to pipelines to their west coast. And the latest? Today, a New York Times article focused on the foreign relations dynamic of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline decision. Posing the decision on this dirty energy project as something that is a choice between the environmental community and Canada is a false way of looking at it. Several points are worth considering:

• Canada and the United States have been friends and allies for a long time and will continue to be friends and allies long into the future. A single project that is in the interest of the oil industry, but not of Americans or Canadians, will not damage that relationship.
• Canada is already our largest supplier of oil. And Canada is our number one trade partner. A rejection of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will not erase the massive trade connections that we already enjoy.
• The current Canadian federal government unapologetically speaks for the tar sands oil industry. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is from Alberta and has moved Canada and the province of Alberta away from earlier Canadian goals of fighting climate change to developing the economy based on oil.
• Many provinces in Canada are concerned about expansion of tar sands and are working hard to diversify their energy sources with clean energy, as well as with energy efficiency and conservation.
• The general public in Canada is very concerned about climate change and many people and First Nations in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec who have experienced tar sands extraction, refining and the threat of tar sands pipelines are raising concerns in the same way that we in the United States are.

A rejection of the tar sands pipelines and of tar sands expansion is in the best interest of both Americans and Canadians. It will show tremendous leadership on the part of both of our countries to move together to tackle the climate change challenge by rejecting dirty fuels and moving forward with clean energy.

So let me come back to the wise words of Chief Jacqueline Thomas, immediate past Chief of the Saik'uz First Nation in British Columbia and co-founder Yinka Dene Alliance ("People of the Earth"): The Yinka Dene Alliance of British Columbia is seeing the harm from climate change to our peoples and our waters. We see the threat of taking tar sands out of the Earth and bringing it through our territories and over our rivers. The harm being done to people in the tar sands region can no longer be Canada's dirty secret. We don't have the billions of dollars that industry has. But we do have our faith that people will do the right thing to protect Mother Earth. The Forward on Climate Rally shows that we are not alone in the fight to stop tar sands expansion and tackle climate change.

Chief Jacqueline Thomas, Saik'uz First Nation, British Columbia

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/sclefkowitz/more_than_35000_canadian

President Obama, Did You Hear Us?: Let's Move #ForwardOnClimate!

Elizabeth Shope, Advocate, Washington, D.C.

Today, I joined a crowd of more than 35,000 people including thousands of NRDC members and activists at the #ForwardOnClimate rally calling on President Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, set carbon standards for dirty power plants, and move forward with clean energy solutions.

Photo credit: Sung Hwang, NRDC.

Hip Hop Caucus President & CEO Reverend Lennox Yearwood MCed the speaker program, and kept the crowd pumped up despite the frigid temperatures and strong, icy winds. Before setting out on our march around the White House, we heard from inspiring speakers including NRDC Trustee and Green for All Founder Van Jones; Chief Jacqueline Thomas, Immediate past Chief of the Saik'uz First Nation in British Columbia and co-founder of the Yinka Dene Alliance; Crystal Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree First Nation; Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; Latinovations Founder and Dewey Squre Group Principal Maria Cardona; Tom Steyer, Investor and founder of the Center for the Next Generation; Mike Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director; and 350.org President Bill McKibben.

Van Jones reminded us why all 35,000 of us were here at this rally: "You elected this President," he told us. "You made history... he needs to give you a chance to have a future. Stop being chumps." In addition to calling on us to continue fighting for our future, he called on President Obama to make the right decision, saying "all the good work you've done will be wiped away if you approve Keystone XL," and that approving the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would be like jabbing a dirty needle into the U.S.

Crystal Lameman shared with us how tar sands development is affecting her community, and how industry is attempting to greenwash their dirty business. "Don't be fooled by their idea of what reclamation is," she said. "We can't eat money and we can't drink oil."

Keystone XL isn't the only tar sands pipeline currently under consideration that would facilitate an expansion of the tar sands - it is one of several. Chief Jacqueline Thomas spoke to us about Enbridge's Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline to British Columbia and the associated tanker traffic that would put the lands and waters of many First Nations at risk. More than 100 First Nations along the pipeline and tanker route have said their lands and waters are not for sale-that they will not allow the Enbridge Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline or similar tar sands projects to cross their lands, territories and watersheds, or the ocean migration routes of Fraser River salmon. Chief Jacqueline Thomas's speech highlighted the importance of protecting our lands and waters: "If we destroy the Earth, we destroy ourselves."

Maria Cardona's speech brought home the urgency of not just rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and curbing tar sands extraction, but of regulating our dirty power plants: "For millions of Americans, particularly minorities, clean air regulations are life-saving regulations."

We're going to have to keep fighting, though, and keep urging Congress and President Obama to stand up to polluters. As Senator Whitehouse told us, "Congress is sleepwalking through this crisis, and it's time to wake up... We're going to have the president's back and he's going to have our back... Let us be unshakeable."

Today, we were not just unshakeable but unified - young people and old people, Nebraska ranchers, members of First Nations and Native American tribes, environmental groups, labor activists, doctors and nurses, entrepreneurs, investors, and many more.

We marched. We danced to the marching bands that mixed themselves in with the crowds. We chanted. (And I have a favorite new chant from today: "Hey Obama don't be silly, we don't want no oil spilly.") And we have hope.

The way Tom Steyer put it in his remarks at the rally, it may not be easy, but there really is no choice: "The Keystone [XL] pipeline is not a good investment. We can't afford 40 more years of dirty energy. Today we have to dare to say no to the Keystone [XL] pipeline and create a clean energy future."

So President Obama, I hope you're listening- because it's time to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, set carbon standards for dirty power plants, and move #ForwardOnClimate.

Photo credit: Josh Mogerman, NRDC.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/eshope/president_obama_did_you_hear_

Fight Keystone XL Tar Sands Pollution and Protect the Climate

Rocky Kistner, Communications Associate, Washington, DC

Up in the pristine Canadian boreal forests and freshwater deltas of Alberta, home to caribou, whooping crane and native communities settled long before Europeans arrived, a poisonous sore is being gouged out of the carbon-rich soil, a massive tar sands oil mining operation that could have huge climate impacts for people across the globe.

New information shows that oil industry plans to more than triple production of tar sands oil in the coming decades will include additional dirty petroleum byproducts, making it even harder for Canada to meet its planned greenhouse gas emission targets. Right now there is one major project standing in the way of tar sands expansion-a roadblock that Canadian oil interests are desperate to crash through.

That roadblock is the Obama Administration's decision whether to grant a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a $7 billion project that would pump more than 800,000 barrels of toxic tar sands crude each day from Alberta's forests through America's agricultural heartland to refineries in the Gulf, where much of the oil would be processed and exported. The administration is expected to release a supplemental Environmental impact Statement soon, with the final Keystone decision expected in coming months.

You can help stop the tar sands devastation and protect the climate. Watch this video about climate threats posed by the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and find out how to join the February 17 Forward on Climate Rally in Washington, DC.

Climate scientists warn that further development of fossil fuel energy sources like tar sands oil will spell disaster for the planet's climate, a point made clear in the release of the draft study of the National Climate Assessment this month. "If we fully develop the tar sands resources we will certainly lose control of the climate, we will get to a point where we can no walk back from the cliff," says University of St. Thomas energy expert John Abraham, who has studied the climate impacts of tar sands oil emissions.

That's because tar sands oil is particularly dirty--at least three times as carbon intensive as conventional oil--resulting in a refining process that includes carbon-intensive byproducts like petroleum coke-or petcoke-that can be burned like coal in refineries at the receiving end of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in Texas. According to a new report released by Oil Change International, petcoke burned from tar sands oil would equal the climate pollution of five additional coal fired power plants, boosting overall carbon emissions from the Keystone XL pipeline by 13 percent. Oil Change International research director Lorne Stockman describes it this way:

"The refineries at the end of the Keystone XL pipeline are some of the biggest petcoke factories in the world today. By supplying them with tar sands bitumen, the petcoke embedded in the tar sands would find its way to the world market...petcoke from the tar sands is making coal fired generation dirtier and cheaper and this puts another nail in the coffin of any rational argument for further exploitation of the tar sands."

Oil industry supporters claim that if the Keystone XL pipeline is not built, tar sands oil will find its way to other markets through future North American pipelines built to the east or west coasts. But many researchers say those projects are mere pipedreams, since the tar sands industry faces major opposition from local communities on the east and west coasts, where residents are worried about tar sands oil spills and other environmental impacts. The Pembina Institute's Nathan Lemphers worked on a new comprehensive report that lays out the facts surrounding tar sands expansion and the Keystone XL pipeline, which he says is a crucial lynchpin in the development of the tar sands:

The Keystone XL pipeline is critical for further expansion of the oil sands. Major financial institutions in Canada have said that the lack of pipeline capacity is a rate limiting step for the oil sands...if it's (Keystone XL) not build, it'll start to moderate the growth of the oil sands and it will send a clear signal to the financial community and the oil sands community that they need to address the carbon emissions that come from the oil sands.

Tar sands processing plant in Alberta Photo: David Dodge, The Pembina Institute

But growing opposition to the Canadian tar sands is not just a not-in-my-backyard concern--everyone is hurt by higher emissions from the dirtiest oil on the planet. The scientific community is especially concerned about rapidly melting Arctic ice, rising sea levels and extreme weather events associated with climate change that we are already witnessing. In December, some of the country's top climate scientists sent President Obama a letter urging his administration to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, citing last year's recent record-setting temperatures and storms as evidence that we need bold action to cut global fossil fuel emissions.

Earlier in January, 70 groups wrote President Obama urging him to take bold and decisive action to help protect the nation against climate change's ravages. Danny Harvey, an energy and climate expert at the University of Toronto, said it best in our video: "Right now President Obama faces a critical choice. There's no better time to say no to further expansion, say no to business as usual, and to begin the process of turning things around."

On February 17, join people from all walks of life, from climate scientists to ranchers and farmers, who will gather in Washington, DC, to call for strong action to fight climate change. The Forward on Climate Rally will point the way for Obama to shape his climate legacy. One of the most important decisions he can make is to reject the Keystone pipeline and to tell the EPA to set carbon standards for power plants.

We the people have the power to demand action from our political leaders, to tell the lobbyists and oil industry fat cats that we're tired of their business-as-usual dirty energy campaigns. We want clean energy solutions that create new technologies and long-term job opportunities, including money-saving projects like NRDC's innovative plan to cut coal-fired power plant pollution.These are the kinds of investments that will build a more sustainable planet for all who inherit the Earth.

That's certainly worth fighting for. Because if we don't, who will?

For more information on how to sign up and participate in the February 17th march, check out the Forward on Climate Rally site.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rkistner/up_in_the_pristine_boreal.h

New video explains the climate threat from the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline

Danielle Droitsch, Director, Canada Project, Washington, D.C.

A new video released by NRDC and 350.org explains how the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is a lynchpin enabling the climate intensive tar sands industry to grow unimpeded. The video also discusses cutting edge research from Oil Change International showing how tar sands oil causes more carbon pollution than originally estimated. Recently, four energy experts and climate scientists from Canada and the U.S. traveled to Washington DC with an urgent message: if we are to truly respond to climate change which is causing extreme life-threatening weather, we must reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Watch the video and join tens of thousands of others on February 17 for the Forward on Climate rally in Washington DC. Join us and send a message to the Obama administration to move forward on climate action. President Obama promised that "we will respond to the threat of climate change." As my colleague Dan Lashof said, delivering on that promise means setting carbon pollution standards for existing power plants and rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

The video co-released by the NRDC and 350.org today brings the message from these four experts.

It features Dr. Danny Harvey, professor at the University of Toronto who noted that "The human race is in big trouble. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that climate change is real. If Keystone is approved, we're locking in several more decades of fossil fuels and higher levels of carbon dioxide and global warming."

Dr. John Abraham, an Associate Professor at the University of St. Thomas said the exploitation of tar sands will significantly worsen the climate. "Climate change is the story related to Keystone. The drought and heat wave in Texas cost Texans $5.2 billion. Hurricane Sandy cost us $70 billion. Some people say it's too expensive to develop clean energy. I say it's too expensive not to. We can choose to expand clean energy or make the crazy choice to extract and use the dirtiest of the dirty."

Lorne Stockman, Research Director for Oil Change International announced new research that shows that the emissions from tar sands oil are worse than originally believed. This is because the climate emissions from a byproduct of tar sands, petroleum coke which is made in the refinery process and is used in coal-fired power plants, have not been previously considered.

Nathan Lemphers, a Senior Policy Analyst with the Pembina Institute talks about how Keystone XL is a critical ingredient to significant expansion of tar sands. He dispels the myth being promoted by the tar sands oil industry that tar sands development is inevitable with our without Keystone XL.

These experts also counter the notion that the climate impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline are small compared to total U.S. global greenhouse gas emissions. In short, approving Keystone XL would open the gateway to dramatic new development of tar sands oil and far more harm to our climate. Continuing to enable the expansion of tar sands in the face of catastrophic climate change is precisely a step in the wrong direction.

As Dr. Harvey best said, "There is no better time to say no to further expansion [of tar sands], to say no to business as usual, and to begin the process of turning things around. If we don't say no now, when will we say no?"

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ddroitsch/new_video_explains_the_cli

Top Three Things We Urge Obama to Do to Curb Climate Change--And Without Waiting for Congress

Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC, New York City

Most people don't think chocolate factories or hardware stores have much to do with climate change. Yet residents of Queens, New York have discovered that extreme weather can devastate local businesses. Hurricane Sandy swamped the Madelaine Chocolate Company, for instance, and two months later, owners were still clearing out mud and suspending pay for 450 employees. A nearby hardware store won't reopen until February and other businesses don't know if they will reopen at all.

Neighborhood residents are left reeling. "It's like anyone who didn't lose his home lost his job," Juan Colon told the New York Times.

When I first started working on climate change a decade ago, we spoke in terms of distant forecasts and long-range impacts. Now we simply look out the window to see what climate change can do to our communities. As demonstrated by the drought that gripped more than half the nation last summer or the intense storms that pummeled towns from Duluth to Queens, climate change is upending lives and costing billions of dollars.

We no longer have the luxury of time. We must act now to prevent more Americans from feeling the pain of lost jobs, destroyed homes, and shuttered businesses.

That is why NRDC and 68 other civic, healthcare, labor, and environmental groups are calling on President Obama to use his second term to take bold and decisive action on climate change.

This week we sent a letter outlining the top three things the president can do to defuse the climate threat. Right now. Using existing authority. And without movement in Congress.

First, we urge President Obama to elevate the issue of climate change in the public discourse. As my colleague Dan Lashof explains on his blog, the way the president talks about climate change has the ability to rally public support and build political will for climate solutions.

Hurricane Sandy debris in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Photo Credit: Sunset Parkerpix.

Second, we urge President Obama to use the Environmental Protection Agency's existing authority to limit carbon pollution from existing power plants-our nation's largest source of global warming pollution. NRDC has proposed a flexible, cost-effective plan for how the EPA can set standards that will reduce carbon pollution by 34 percent by 2026 compared to 2005 levels and generate between $25 and $60 billion in benefits by 2020.

Third, we urge President Obama to reject the use of the dirtiest fuels. Producing tar sands oil, for instance, generates three times as much greenhouse gas emissions as conventional crude-and that's even before we burn it in cars and trucks. As my colleague Susan Casey-Lefkowitz writes in her latest post, we can't rely on dirty tar sands oil without threatening our health and communities. That's why the president must reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

These three steps put America on a path toward climate stability. They will shield more Americans from devastating drought, heat waves, and storms. And they will unleash more investment in clean energy resources that generate jobs and make our air safer to breathe.

But we have to act now to reap the most benefits, because climate change isn't waiting. According to a NOAA report released on Tuesday, 2012 was the hottest year on record for the continental United States. Our climate is mutating before our eyes, and we must arrest its destructive changes.

President Obama recognizes this reality. He has already acted to cut carbon pollution from cars and new power plants and he recently said he would make climate change a top priority for his new term. He can begin by taking these three steps.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/top_three_things_we_urge_o