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The League has long fought battles to protect clean air and water, prevent harmful pollutants that contribute to climate change, and inform the public of what they can do to get involved in the ongoing battle to protect public health and the environment. A major threat to our safety is currently being considered by the U.S. State Department: the Keystone XL (KXL) Pipeline. The League opposes the KXL Pipeline, and we need your help to tell Secretary Kerry to reject it.
The proposed KXL Pipeline stretches1,700 miles from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast. It will carry the dirtiest oil on the planet through the U.S. to be refined and then shipped overseas to other countries. The KXL pipeline will threaten the safety of our drinking water, promote a bad energy policy and increase the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere that contribute to climate change. This pipeline is a risky venture that is not in our national interest.
The recent Environmental Impact Statement from the U.S. State Department does not adequately evaluate the long term effects that the pipeline has on our climate, public health and energy security. The State Department is accepting public comments on this document and a strong showing from our grassroots supporters to emphasize that building the pipeline is too dangerous to the water we drink, the air we breathe and the way of life for a large portion of our country can help turn the tide on possible approval of the pipeline. The deadline for submitting comments is midnight EST on Earth Day — Monday, April 22— and you can use our action tool to leave comments of your own.
If approved, the KXL Pipeline would generate three times the global warming pollution as conventional oil production. The U.S. should be a leader on fighting the effects of climate change, not facilitating the creation of additional pollution to harm the planet.
What’s more, the proposed pathway for the KXL pipeline would go through the Yellowstone River and the Ogallala Aquifer. Both of these water sources are essential to providing drinking water to humans and for irrigating agriculture. A spill along the proposed route would put public health in danger.
The U.S. needs to focus on creating sustainable and clean sources of energy. Approving the KXL Pipeline will produce more dirty oil that will increase the threat of climate change and increase the world’s dependence on oil. If the U.S. is serious about creating a clean energy economy, it needs to lead the world towards the creation of clean energy production.