Statement on Obama Administration’s Rejection of Keystone XL Pipeline Permit
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2012
CONTACT: Eric Young, 703-217-6814, [email protected]
Washington, D.C. ⎯ The U.S. State Department announced today they have rejected TransCanada's permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The extension of the pipeline was designed to carry oil from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast in Texas.
Maggie L. Fox, President and CEO of The Climate Reality Project, issued the following statement:
“This announcement is a victory in the fight against dumping more carbon pollution into our atmosphere and a positive step towards fuel choices for a sustainable future. If built, this pipeline would bring one of the dirtiest fuels on earth all the way from Alberta, Canada to the U.S. gulf coast for almost 50 years. A lifecycle analysis from “well to wheels” shows that oil from Canadian tar sands has a larger carbon footprint than any other fossil-fuel based transportation fuel on the planet. The EPA estimates that annual well-to-tank carbon pollution from the Keystone XL pipelines could be as much as 82% higher than average crude refined in America. This amounts to an additional 27 million metric tons of carbon pollution, the equivalent of adding roughly 4.8 million cars to our roads. If we are going to solve the climate crisis, we cannot go down this road.”
“Instead of building pipelines to transport the world’s dirtiest transportation fuel 1,700 miles, we need to invest in clean energy and energy efficiency. Clean energy is already the fastest growing industry in the U.S. today and one of the fastest growing worldwide. We have a choice to make about our energy future: stay with the dirty fuels of the past, or move forward with clean energy.
“We still have a lot of work to do in the fight against climate change but today we can breathe a little easier now that plans for this polluting pipeline have been put on a shelf.” For more information on the Climate Reality Project go to: climaterealityproject.org