March, 07 2014, 04:05pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Whit Jones, Energy Action Coalition, whit@energyactioncoalition.org, 914-671-1880
Keystone XL Opponents Deliver 2 Million+ Comments
Tell Secretary Kerry KXL is Not in Our National Interest
WASHINGTON
On the last day of the public comment period, Keystone XL opponents held a rally in front of the State Department to deliver more than 2 million comments submitted to the State Department to urge Secretary Kerry and President Obama to reject the dirty, dangerous pipeline. The public comment period regarding the national interest of the pipeline began on February 5, after the State Department published the final environmental review.
These 2 million+ comments telling Secretary Kerry and President Obama that Keystone XL is not in the national interest exceed the more than one million comments submitted last year that expressed concern about the draft environmental review - showing a growth in concern about the risky project. Hundreds of rallies and vigils have also been held across the country, urging Secretary Kerry and President Obama to oppose the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
The same activists are prepared to mobilize in celebration following a rejection, and more than 86,000 have signed a Pledge of Resistance to commit acts of civil disobedience if Secretary Kerry recommends approval of Keystone XL to President Obama.
Given the serious concerns about climate impacts, environmental and health concerns, and the lack of a route in Nebraska, Secretary Kerry has sufficient information to conclude that Keystone XL is not in our national interest and to recommend that President Obama reject the permit.
Even the State Department's oil-soaked analysis acknowledged that the pipeline would significantly exacerbate climate pollution under certain scenarios and flagged serious water issues.
Secretary Kerry has stated that the ongoing 90 day National Interest Determination process, in which eight agencies can comment on whether the tar sands pipeline is in our national interest, marks the beginning of his involvement in the process. The EPA's comments on two previous State Department analyses included significant concerns about State's process and findings.
The 2 million+ comments will be buttressed by ads in blue and orange line metro cars that read:
Secretary Kerry: You've spent a lifetime challenging Weapons of Mass Destruction. Don't ignite one. Say no to Keystone XL.
Nearly 900,000 of the comments came from international pipeline opponents, including Desmond Tutu. People around the world are watching Secretary Kerry on this issue, and his recommendation on Keystone XL will shape his international reputation and efficacy.
--
Gene Karpinski, League of Conservation Voters President: "When we asked our hundreds of thousands of members across the country to send comments to the State Department, they responded with an overwhelming call to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Nobody has done more to fight climate change than Secretary Kerry, and I'm confident that as he reviews the public comments, the science, and the facts, he will find that this dirty, dangerous pipeline is not in the national interest and must be rejected."
Maura Cowley, Energy Action Coalition Executive Director: "Just last weekend 398 young leaders got arrested at the White House to protest Keystone XL, and more than 2 million are submitting comments to stand with these young people and demand President Obama and Secretary Kerry reject Keystone XL. If President Obama and Secretary Kerry want to maintain the enthusiasm of young people, and the country, they must show they stand with us, not Big Oil, and reject this dangerous pipeline."
Frances Beinecke, Natural Resources Defense Council President: "This new outpouring of public opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline demonstrates yet again that the more Americans learn about this project the more we want the Obama Administration to reject it. Instead of embracing the dirtiest oil on Earth, let's put America squarely on the path to a cleaner energy future. This tar sands project would only aid and abet our oil addiction and worsen climate change. It is not in America's national interest."
Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director: "We are at a crossroads, and a road paved with tar sands will take us over the climate crisis cliff. American families have embraced 21st Century clean energy prosperity and can't wait to leave behind 19th Century fossil fuels that pollute our water, air, land and public health.
"President Obama, with Secretary of State John Kerry's counsel, now have an obligation and opportunity to reject the dangerous Keystone XL pipeline and support the American ingenuity that is already generating remarkable clean energy success."
Bill McKibben, 350.org Co-Founder: "For three years now there's been an absolutely unprecedented outpouring of reaction to this pipeline proposal: from scientists, Nobel laureates, economists, theologians, and most of all from us ordinary Americans across the country. It's the biggest blizzard of public comment about any infrastructure project--and now we'll see if the Obama administration will listen to the people, or to the big oil boys."
Elijah Zarlin, CREDO's Senior Campaign Manager: "Secretary Kerry was absolutely right when he said that climate change is a weapon of mass destruction -- and that means he must oppose the carbon bomb that is Keystone XL. If the two million comments opposing Keystone XL doesn't convince Sec. Kerry to stand by his own words and recommend President Obama reject this pipeline, then more than 86,000 Americans are ready to risk arrest in massive civil disobedience."
Stephen Kretzmann, Oil Change International Executive Director: "Secretary Kerry and President Obama have a simple choice: they can stand with Big Oil or they can stand with the millions of Americans calling for rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. By rejecting the pipeline, they can live up to their own words and commitments, and move our country in a new direction away from fossil fuels and the climate chaos they are bringing upon us."
Erich Pica, Friends of the Earth President: "For the sake of our children, it is a diplomatic imperative that the State Department fights to prevent climate change. If Secretary Kerry intends to remain a climate champion, he should draw the line here and tell President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline."
Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska Executive Director: "We stand with Pres. Obama when he echoed our concerns: 'Nebraskans are not going to take a few thousand jobs if it's means our drinking water and our kids health could be put at risk.' The State Department confirmed the proposed route still crosses the Sandhills and Ogallala Aquifer. TransCanada is a foreign tarsands pipeline without a route in our state and we have the determination and numbers to keep it that way."
Amanda Starbuck, Rainforest Action Network Climate Program Director: "We're hearing from people all across this country who know that the Keystone XL pipeline is absolutely not in our nation's best interest. The two million comments delivered today reflect a huge wave of resistance to the pipeline. From the Oglala Lakota Sioux fighting to stop the pipeline from entering their territory to the hundreds of students arrested at the White House gates, we stand united with everyday Americans who are ready to do what it takes to stop this pipeline, once and for all."
Ricken Patel, Avaaz.org Executive Director: "The Keystone decision could, in one stroke of the pen, make or break Kerry's ability to lead climate action on the global stage. And it will determine whether the US is serious about fighting to save the planet, or even able to meet its existing global emissions reductions. Nearly two million people are calling on the US to lead the world to a better climate future. It's up to Kerry to heed them."
Jim Lyon, National Wildlife Federation Senior Vice President for Conservation: "Today more than two million Americans add their name to the call for President Obama to say no to Keystone XL, far outnumbering industry proponents who outspent those asking for denial by 35 to 1. The President has all he needs to reject this dangerous pipeline that would cut through America's heartland and put people and wildlife at risk. We are confident that the President will stand by this commitment to tackle climate change and reject projects, like Keystone XL, which will increase our addition to fossil fuels."
Kieran Suckling, Center for Biological Diversity Executive Director: "Keystone XL promises to spill oil, ruin pristine lands, threaten wildlife and worsen the climate crisis. There's no way it's in the national interest and more and more Americans know it. Secretary Kerry and President Obama have a clear choice: Approve Keystone and embrace the climate-killing fossil fuels of the past, or reject Keystone in favor of energy policies that are safer for people, wildlife and a healthy climate."
Participating organizations include: 350.org, Avaaz, Bold Nebraska, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Media and Democracy, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Climate Parents, CREDO, Energy Action Coalition, Environmental Action, Environmental Defense Fund, Faithful America, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, Green America, Interfaith Power and Light, League of Conservation Voters, Moms Clean Air Force, Montana Environmental Information Center, Mosaic, MoveOn, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern Plains Resource Council, Occupy Network, Oil Change International, PDA, Public Citizen, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, SumOfUs, The Other 98%, and We Love Our Land.
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
LATEST NEWS
Watchdog Urges FEC to Investigate Trump Campaign Over Scheme for Legal Fees
"By not disclosing the vendors that actually provided legal services, the Trump-affiliated committees effectively blocked the public from knowing which attorneys and firms are being paid—and how much."
Apr 24, 2024
A campaign finance watchdog on Wednesday filed a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, affiliated political groups, and an accounting firm of violating U.S. law in a scheme "seemingly designed to obscure the true recipients of a noteworthy portion of Trump's legal bills."
The Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center (CLC) said that "evidence appears to show an illegal arrangement between several Trump-affiliated committees and a compliance firm named Red Curve Solutions that is designed to obscure the identities of those providing legal services and how much they are being paid."
"Voters have a right to know how the presidential campaigns and other committees supporting presidential candidates spend their money."
CLC alleges that the Trump campaign, Trump's political action committee (PAC) Save America, and three affiliated organizations "violated federal reporting requirements based on a scheme in which the committees reportedly paid over $7.2 million—described as 'reimbursement for legal' costs or expenses"—to Red Curve.
The watchdog also said that Red Curve appears to be "making or facilitating illegal contributions that violate either federal contribution limits or the prohibition on corporate contributions."
According to CLC:
Red Curve is a domestic limited liability company that offers compliance and FEC reporting services but does not appear to offer any legal services. It is managed by Bradley Crate, who also serves as the treasurer for each of the five Trump-affiliated committees concerned in this complaint, as well as over 200 other federal committees.
According to filings with the FEC, Red Curve appears to have been fronting legal costs for Trump since at least December 2022, with Trump-affiliated committees repaying the company later. This arrangement appears to violate FEC rules that require campaigns to disclose not only the entity being reimbursed (here, Red Curve) but also the underlying vendor. By not disclosing the vendors that actually provided legal services, the Trump-affiliated committees effectively blocked the public from knowing which attorneys and firms are being paid—and how much they are being paid—through this arrangement.
"Voters have a right to know how the presidential campaigns and other committees supporting presidential candidates spend their money," CLC senior director of campaign finance Erin Chlopak said in a statement. "When campaigns and committees obscure that information from the public, not only do they make it difficult to determine if the law has been violated, but they deny voters the ability to make an informed choice when casting a ballot."
"The steps taken by the Trump campaign, its affiliated committees, and Red Curve Solutions concealed information about how campaign funds were used to pay former President Trump's legal expenditures, including the amounts and ultimate recipients of these expenditures—and the FEC must investigate immediately," Chlopak added.
Trump—who is the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee—faces 91 federal and state felony charges related to his role in the January 6 insurrection and his organization's business practices. He is currently on trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The twice-impeached former president has been open about his use of campaign donations to pay his legal costs.
The new CLC filing comes a day after the watchdog filed separate FEC complaints urging investigations into a pair of Trump-affiliated "scam PACs," which "pretend to fundraise for major candidates or issues while secretly diverting almost all of their donors' money back into fundraising or the fraudsters' own pockets."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'One Step Closer': Arizona House Votes to Repeal 1864 Abortion Ban
"With a total ban still set to take effect June 8, the Arizona Abortion Access Act is needed now more than ever," one state campaigner said of a November ballot measure.
Apr 24, 2024
Three Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday joined with Democrats to advance legislation that would repeal an 1864 ban on abortion—a development rights advocates welcomed while stressing that the fight is far from over.
The 32-28 vote on House Bill 2677—with GOP Reps. Tim Dunn (25), Matt Gress (4), and Justin Wilmeth (2) voting in favor—was the third attempt in as many weeks to pass repeal legislation since the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the ban.
"The state Senate could vote on the repeal as early as next Wednesday, after the bill comes on the floor for a 'third reading,' as is required under chamber rules," according toNBC News. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Wednesday toldThe Washington Post that "I am hopeful the Senate does the right thing and sends it to my desk so I can sign it."
Applauding the House passage of H.B. 2677, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona president and CEO Angela Florez said that "today, Arizona is one step closer to repealing the state's Civil War-era total abortion ban. While the repeal still must pass the Senate, this is a major win for reproductive freedom."
"We must celebrate today's vote in support of abortion rights and harness our enthusiasm to spread the word and urge lawmakers in the Senate to support this necessary repeal bill," she continued. "Despite this step forward, Arizonans cannot stop fighting."
Florez noted that "even with the repeal of the Civil War-era ban, the state will still have a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy that denies people access to critical care. And lawmakers continue to attack Arizonans' ability to access reproductive healthcare. Our right to control our bodies and lives is hanging on by a thread."
"Thankfully, voters will have the opportunity to take back control if the Arizona Abortion Access Act is on the ballot this November," she added. "Abortion bans are out-of-step with the will of Arizonans and will force pregnant people to leave their communities for essential healthcare. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona will continue fighting to ensure everyone has the right to make decisions about their health and futures."
The Arizona Abortion Access Act is a proposed state constitutional amendment that would prevent many limits on abortions before fetal viability and safeguard access to care after viability to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient.
The coalition supporting the amendment, Arizona for Abortion Access, highlighted on social media that the House-approved bill "did not include the emergency clause required to stop the 1864 ban from taking effect on June 8," meaning H.B. 2677 wouldn't apply until 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
Coalition campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said that "with a total ban still set to take effect June 8, the Arizona Abortion Access Act is needed now more than ever. We remain committed to taking these decisions out of the hands of extremist politicians."
Arizona is one of multiple states where rights advocates are promoting abortion rights ballot measures this cycle. Reproductive freedom is also dominating political races at all levels, including the presidential contest. Democratic President Joe Biden is set to face former Republican President Donald Trump in November.
"Donald Trump is responsible for Arizona's abortion ban. Women in the state are still living under a ban with no exceptions for rape or incest and have been stripped of the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions," said Julie Chávez Rodriguez, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' reelection campaign manager.
While the presumptive GOP nominee has tried to distance himself from the Arizona Supreme Court's reinstatement of a 160-year-old abortion ban, he has also campaigned on his three appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped reverse Roe v. Wade.
"Trump brags that he is 'proudly' the person responsible for these bans and if he retakes power, the chaos and cruelty he has created will only get worse in all 50 states," Chávez Rodriguez said. "President Biden and Vice President Harris are the only candidates who will stop him."
Keep ReadingShow Less
US Dodges Growing Calls for Probe of Mass Graves at Gaza Hospitals
"Somehow I don't think the U.S. State Department would defer to Russia as a credible source to investigate itself if a mass grave were discovered in Ukrainian territory it had occupied," said one legal expert.
Apr 24, 2024
While continuing to give Israel billions of dollars in support to wage war on the Gaza Strip, the Biden administration this week has declined to join the growing global demands for an international probe into mass graves discovered at hospitals in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Two journalists on Tuesday questioned Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, about the administration's response to the hundreds of bodies found at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis as well as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk's call for an independent investigation.
"Would you support such an independent investigation?" Said Arikat asked during a press briefing. Patel responded, "Right now, Said, we are asking for more information... That is squarely where we are leaving the conversation."
Patel added that "I don't have any details to match, confirm, or offer as it relates to that. We're aware of those reports, and we have asked the government of Israel for additional clarity and information. And that's where I'm at."
When Said asked a follow-up about potential U.S. support for a probe, Patel reiterated that the administration is awaiting information from the Israeli government.
Later, Niall Stanage asked Patel to explain U.S. "resistance" to supporting a probe, the spokesperson insisted that "it's not about resistance to this particular situation, it is me not wanting to speak in detail about something which Said posed as a hypothetical question when, from the United States' perspective, I don't have any additional information on this aside from the public reporting."
After Patel again stressed that the administration has asked Israel for more information, Stanage inquired, "And do you believe the government of Israel is a credible source in enlightening you?"
The spokesperson interrupted Stanage to say, "We do."
While supporting the six-month Israeli assault on Gaza that the International Court of Justice has found to be plausibly genocidal, the Biden administration is also arming Ukrainians' resistance to a Russian invasion. Brian Finucane, a senior adviser for the Crisis Group's U.S. program and a former legal adviser at the State Department, pointed to the latter.
"Somehow I don't think the U.S. State Department would defer to Russia as a credible source to investigate itself if a mass grave were discovered in Ukrainian territory it had occupied," Finucane said on social media in response to Stanage's questioning.
Meanwhile, European Union spokesperson Peter Stano made clear Tuesday that the E.U. supports an independent probe.
"This is something that forces us to call for an independent investigation of all the suspicions and all the circumstances, because indeed it creates the impression that there might have been violations of international human rights committed," Stano said. "That's why it's important to have independent investigation and to ensure accountability."
Human rights groups around the world joined the call for an independent investigation on Wednesday, as the official death toll in Gaza hit 34,262 with 77,229 people injured and thousands more missing and presumed dead beneath the rubble.
In an Arabic statement translated by Al Jazeera, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that the number of bodies found in the mass graves is "alarming, and requires urgent international action, including the formation of an independent international investigation committee."
The group added that some of those killed were subjected to "premeditated murder as well as arbitrary and extrajudicial executions while they were detained and handcuffed."
Amnesty International senior director of research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns Erika Guevara Rosas said in a statement that "the harrowing discovery of these mass graves underscores the urgency of ensuring immediate access for human rights investigators, including forensic experts, to the occupied Gaza Strip to ensure that evidence is preserved and to carry out independent and transparent investigations with the aim of guaranteeing accountability for any violations of international law."
"Lack of access for human rights investigators to Gaza has hampered effective investigations into the full scale of the human rights violations and crimes under international law committed over the past six months, allowing for the documentation of just a tiny fraction of these abuses," she noted. "Without proper investigations to determine how these deaths took place or what violations may have been committed, we may never find out the truth of the horrors behind these mass graves."
Guevara Rosas continued:
Mass grave sites are potential crime scenes offering vital and time-sensitive forensic evidence; they must be protected until professional forensic experts with the necessary skills and resources can safely carry out adequate exhumations and accurate identification of remains.
The absence of forensic experts and the decimation of Gaza's medical sector as a result of the war and Israel's cruel blockade, along with the lack of availability of the necessary resources for the identification of bodies such as DNA testing, are huge obstacles to the identifications of remains. This denies those killed the opportunity to have a dignified burial and deprives families with relatives missing or forcibly disappeared the right to know and to justice—leaving them in a limbo of uncertainty and anguish.
Noting that the International Court of Justice directed Israel to preserve evidence in its initial genocide case order, Guevara Rosas said that "amid a total vacuum of accountability and mounting evidence of war crimes in Gaza, Israeli authorities must ensure they comply with the ICJ ruling by granting immediate access to independent human rights investigators and ensuring that all evidence of violations is preserved."
"Third states must pressure Israel to comply with the ICJ orders by allowing the immediate entry into the Gaza Strip of independent human rights investigators and forensic experts, including the U.N.-appointed Commission of Inquiry and investigators of the International Criminal Court," she added. "There can be no truth and justice without proper, transparent independent investigations into these deaths."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular