NRDC: While continuing to downplay carbon pollution rise, State finally acknowledges pipeline could hasten climate change
WASHINGTON (January 31, 2014) – The following is a statement by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, international program director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, on the State Department’s final environmental impact statement for the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline:
“Even though the State Department continues to downplay clear evidence that the Keystone XL pipeline would lead to tar sands expansion and significantly worsen carbon pollution, it has, for the first time, acknowledged that the proposed project could accelerate climate change. President Obama now has all the information he needs to reject the pipeline. Piping the dirtiest oil on the planet through the heart of America would endanger our farms, our communities, our fresh water and our climate. That is absolutely not in our national interest. Keystone XL should be rejected.”
NRDC issued a report in October 2013 with the latest information on the climate impacts of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline here: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/keystone-pipeline/files/tar-sands-climate-impacts-IB.pdf
Video of people impacted by the pipeline and tar sands production can be found here:
http://www.nrdc.org/energy/keystone-pipeline/tar-sands-stories/
