Culture and Coexistence into the Great Unknown
The State Department has issued a flawed environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that ignores its far-reaching impacts on climate and our environment. Tar Sands Action Southern California has prepared a commentary on behalf of 40 groups to be submitted to the State Department demanding a comprehensive reassessment of the significant and irreversible impacts on the environment not taken into account in the draft report released on March 1st. Make your comment by April 22nd!
Despite what you’ve heard about natural gas being clean, fracking also contributes to climate change. Although the burning of the gas is clean, the process of fracking releases so much methane into the air, that if all the shale in California is fracked, it will delay the implementation of AB 32, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, by 80 years.
The revenue generated from a Carbon Tax, which should really be called a fee, would be returned to the citizenry, either through reductions in taxes or monthly dividends. That money would offset any increase in the cost of gas at the pump and would off-set already exorbitant financial stress caused by carbon release (i.e. medical bills and (un)natural disaster relief).
“Severe grazing is absolutely essential to maintain biodiversity,” argues Allan Savory in a recent TED Talk. Of course, this is the opposite of scientific truth for the sensitive desert ecosystem. Advocating “holistic grazing,” Mr. Savory pieces together false assumptions to produce ineffective but popular recommendations on climate change.
The Keystone XL is a great line in the sand. It requires an executive approval from President Obama because it crosses an international boundary, a rare “Yeah” or “Nay” for a head of state. Should the President reject the project based on its adverse climatic effects, he would become the first world leader to recognize the mutually beneficial relationship between ecology and economy.
President Obama, we need an energy policy focused on efficiency and conservation, integrated with a clean, renewable energy plan – one that breaks our addiction to dirty and dangerous fuels such as Coal, Fracked Natural Gas, Nuclear and Tar Sands Oil.
Join the largest climate change rally in history on Sunday, February 17th, with tens of thousands converging on Washington DC and solidarity marches in Los Angeles and across the country to demand: “Solve the climate crisis! Take a stand, Mr. President!”