If you’re in Richmond Monday, 2/27, come join the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) at 11AM (507 E. Franklin St.) to deliver petitions against constructing the Keystone XL pipeline to the offices of Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb.
Republicans in the U.S. Senate introduced an amendment to a federal transportation bill on Feb. 13 that would speed up the construction and operation of the Keystone XL pipeline. Sponsored by Republican Senators John Hoeven (N.D.), Richard Lugar (Ind.), and David Vitter (La.), the amendment would erase the requirement for TransCanada to obtain a federal permit to cross the border between the U.S. and Canada.
The only interests which are represented by this amendment are those of TransCanada and the oil refineries and distributers in the U.S. along with their friends on Capitol Hill.
The Keystone XL pipeline is not, therefore, a matter of necessity insofar as energy independence is concerned. It is unclear how energy independence is obtained anyways by relying on Canada for crude oil.
The way forward for the U.S. is through renewable sources of energy and advanced energy technologies. Diversions such as the Keystone XL pipeline will only set the U.S. back decades in terms of real energy independence, not to mention the inevitable pipeline spills that will wreck havoc on some of the U.S.’s most important ecosystems.
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