Keystone XL Must Not Happen

The corporate media have finally begun to think about covering the largest ongoing civil disobedience the environmental movement has produced in a generation. Over 700 people have been arrested so far at the White House. If you haven't heard about the Keystone XL pipeline fantasy, you need to watch these two videos immediately and get yourself to DC, or make a phone call to the White House poll-takers right now at the very least. Tell them you support/demand a Presidential veto: 202-456-1111):

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Again, all Obama has to do here is say "no" and this project does not happen.

Meanwhile a new report has now thoroughly exposed the oil industry's outright lies for what they are. (One of the corporations set to buy the Alberta oil is even co-owned by the Saudi government (hat tip Naomi Klein).

A new report from Oil Change International lays out the case, based on data and documents from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Canadian National Energy Board, corporate disclosures to regulators and investors, and analysis of the rapidly shifting oil market.

The facts:

• Keystone XL is an export pipeline. The Port Arthur, Texas, refiners at the end of its route are focused on expanding exports to Europe, and Latin America. Much of the fuel refined from the pipeline’s heavy crude oil will never reach U.S. drivers’ tanks.

• Valero, the key customer for crude oil from Keystone XL, has explicitly detailed an export strategy to its investors. Because Valero’s Port Arthur refinery is in a Foreign Trade Zone, the company can carry out its strategy tax-free.

• In a shrinking U.S. market, Keystone XL is not needed. Since the project was announced, the oil industry acknowledges that higher fuel economy standards and slow economic growth mean declining U.S. oil demand, even as domestic production is booming. Oil from Keystone XL will therefore displace American crude from new, “unconventional” domestic fields in Texas or North Dakota.“Oil is a fundamentally global market – the idea that the pipeline enhances our energy security is a scam.” said Kretzmann. “Let’s hope the Obama Administration doesn’t fall for it. In fact, the only way to truly reduce our dependence on foreign oil is to reduce our dependence on all oil. Let’s not fool ourselves that we will achieve ‘energy independence’ by serving as a middleman for access to overseas markets.” [download the full report here]

Once again, that number to call is: 202-456-1111