The Five Year Fight Against the Pipeline Continues Today

Washington, DC – The five year fight against Keystone XL continues today as the Senate voted in a crushing 62 to 36 majority in favor of the pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline has been a central issue for environmental and climate advocates in the U.S. The oil pipeline would run 1,170 miles from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, costing $7 billion and carrying a projected 900,000 barrels of dirty crude oil through 2,000 miles of the American heartland every day while only creating 50 permanent US jobs. The proposed line would also cross America’s biggest aquifer, affecting highly sensitive wildlife, local communities, agriculture, and critical water supplies below and above ground. With the Republican takeover of the Senate late last year, new majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky chose the Keystone bill as the first measure Republicans would send to President Obama. Though this move is largely symbolic for the Senate, as they do not have the votes to override the President’s assured veto, it echoes the Senate’s allegiance to dirty energy and dirty money. Last week the Senate voted that climate change was indeed real and “not a hoax”.  However, there was still pushback as they did not agree that humans were the primary cause. Climate-denying senators remain determined to ignore the environmental risks of Keystone XL. Many are confident that Obama will uphold his veto and Earth Day Network stands with him.