
Today, protesters in Philadelphia, PA, targeted the corrupt process that produced the U.S. State Department’s final analysis claiming the Keystone XL pipeline would not cause any “significant” climate damage.
The formal public comment period on the pipeline decision came to a close Friday, so today Keystone XL opponents turned from words to actions, saying “No” to the pipeline by putting their bodies on the line.
In front of the Federal Building activists brought brooms, to "sweep out" the corruption of the State Department's Final Environmental Impact Statement, underwritten by a firm with close ties to TransCanada and the oil industry.
"A few years ago I realized that all the things I do to secure my children's future—from bringing them to the doctor for annual checkups to helping them with their homework—won't mean anything if the climate they inherit is destroyed," said Eileen Flanagan, Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) board member and mother of two. "I'm willing to risk being arrested to show President Obama that this issue is this important."
As the time draws closer for President Obama to decide whether or not to allow the pipeline that would carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, hundreds of thousands of Americans have already opposed the pipeline in multiple ways—and the movement is growing.
“We’re in a deep hole with the climate,” said Jonathan Lipman with 350 Philadelphia. “The President says he wants to help us climb out. But approving this pipeline would just dig the hole deeper. If we are serious about changing course on climate change, we must start reducing oil consumption and oil production now.”
President Obama ran on a promise of “ending the tyranny of oil.” Today’s protestors reminded him that he would betray both his campaign promise and his commitment to battling climate change if he caves to Big Oil and approves the pipeline.
Organizations represented at today's action includes, EQAT, 350 Philadelphia, Sierra Club Pa, Food & Water Watch, Be the Change.
Visit EcoWatch’s KEYSTONE XL page for more related news on this topic.
At first glance, you wouldn't think avocados and almonds could harm bees; but a closer look at how these popular crops are produced reveals their potentially detrimental effect on pollinators.
Migratory beekeeping involves trucking millions of bees across the U.S. to pollinate different crops, including avocados and almonds. Timothy Paule II / Pexels / CC0
<p>According to <a href="https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/israeli-kitchen/beekeeping-how-to-keep-bees" target="_blank">From the Grapevine</a>, American avocados also fully depend on bees' pollination to produce fruit, so farmers have turned to migratory beekeeping as well to fill the void left by wild populations.</p><p>U.S. farmers have become reliant upon the practice, but migratory beekeeping has been called exploitative and harmful to bees. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/10/health/avocado-almond-vegan-partner/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported that commercial beekeeping may injure or kill bees and that transporting them to pollinate crops appears to negatively affect their health and lifespan. Because the honeybees are forced to gather pollen and nectar from a single, monoculture crop — the one they've been brought in to pollinate — they are deprived of their normal diet, which is more diverse and nourishing as it's comprised of a variety of pollens and nectars, Scientific American reported.</p><p>Scientific American added how getting shuttled from crop to crop and field to field across the country boomerangs the bees between feast and famine, especially once the blooms they were brought in to fertilize end.</p><p>Plus, the artificial mass influx of bees guarantees spreading viruses, mites and fungi between the insects as they collide in midair and crawl over each other in their hives, Scientific American reported. According to CNN, some researchers argue that this explains why so many bees die each winter, and even why entire hives suddenly die off in a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.</p>Avocado and almond crops depend on bees for proper pollination. FRANK MERIÑO / Pexels / CC0
<p>Salazar and other Columbian beekeepers described "scooping up piles of dead bees" year after year since the avocado and citrus booms began, according to Phys.org. Many have opted to salvage what partial colonies survive and move away from agricultural areas.</p><p>The future of pollinators and the crops they help create is uncertain. According to the United Nations, nearly half of insect pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, risk global extinction, Phys.org reported. Their decline already has cascading consequences for the economy and beyond. Roughly 1.4 billion jobs and three-quarters of all crops around the world depend on bees and other pollinators for free fertilization services worth billions of dollars, Phys.org noted. Losing wild and native bees could <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wild-bees-crop-shortage-2646849232.html" target="_self">trigger food security issues</a>.</p><p>Salazar, the beekeeper, warned Phys.org, "The bee is a bioindicator. If bees are dying, what other insects beneficial to the environment... are dying?"</p>EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Australia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It is home to more than 7% of all the world's plant and animal species, many of which are endemic. One such species, the Pharohylaeus lactiferus bee, was recently rediscovered after spending nearly 100 years out of sight from humans.
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