President Obama Expected to Stand up to Big Oil on Keystone XL Pipeline

Environment America

According to media reports, President Obama and the State Department will today reject an effort to force administration approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. Environment America Get Off Oil program director Daniel Gatti issued this statement in response:

“Today, President Obama will stand up to Big Oil’s latest attack on our health and environment by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline. While Congressional Republicans work tirelessly for Big Oil, President Obama is taking concrete steps to reduce our dependence on oil and to build a cleaner, healthier future for American families.  

“The pipeline would have been a disaster for our climate, the quality of the air that we breathe, and for critical water resources across our country.  The pipeline would have deepened our dependence on dirty oil from Canada’s tar sands, producing catastrophic levels of global warming pollution.

“Over the past year, hundreds of thousands of Americans have organized and demonstrated in opposition to Big Oil and their destructive environmental practices.  Today’s decision shows that President Obama is on the side of Americans concerned about protecting our health and environment from oil companies. This administration has helped stop the rush for dirty fuels, and they have enacted clean cars standards that will get us off oil, reduce air pollution and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. 

“Environment America thanks President Obama for protecting our environment and our health.”