On Jan. 3, more than 150 people from as far away as Canada, New Mexico, Virginia and New York gathered in front of the White House in Washington, DC to urge Congress and President Obama to say no to the Keystone XL pipeline. Organizers of the rally felt it was essential to make their voice heard prior to the Keystone XL debate taking center stage as Congress reconvenes this week.
On Wednesday, Jan. 7, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on legislation to try and push forward the Keystone XL pipeline after the Senate approval of the pipeline was defeated by one vote in November.
"We are here to urge Congress about the gravity of the decision they are about to make and the catastrophic results that the construction of the KXL pipeline will have when it spills and contaminates the land and likely the largest aquifer of fresh water in the world that provides 30 percent of the irrigation water and approximately 70 percent of the drinking water for the United States," said Tara Houska, founder of NotYourMascots.org and co-organizer of the rally.
"We are in the battle of our lives as we see history repeating itself in legislation that steals our lands, our homes and our lives," said Emelie Jeffries of Voices Of Our People and co-organizer of the rally. “The KXL Pipeline is a greater threat to national security, more so than any terrorist!”
At the rally Jeffries read this statement from Debra White Plume, a Lakota grandmother and founder and director of Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way), a grassroots non-profit devoted to preserving and revitalizing the Lakota way of life:
"Friends, allies and relatives gathered here today in the spirit of resistance, in the spirit of demanding rights for Mother Earth and the Protection of Sacred Water, in the spirit of standing up for the coming generations … be strong, be focused, be brave, and be ready to demand of this citizen government that they first and foremost protect our sacred water and our sacred children from the black snake of the KXL Tar Sand poison banging on our doors.
To violate our Human Right to water by promising to approve the KXL for a Canadian-based corporation is a serious act by the elected leaders in this big land that the citizens must not ignore or allow to pass unnoticed. When government refuses to protect its people, then the people must be ready to protect themselves. These non-violent, direct actions of putting this issue in the face of the government and the citizens are acts of love. Acts of love … for coming generations and Mother Earth.
We are not protestors, we are the Protectors of Sacred Water! Have faith in the good people who will vote against KXL, and be ready to support them in their vote to be steadfast and deny it entry to our lands and waters. Be ready to stand in front of the black snake or it will be in your house flicking its deadly tongue at your children.
I thank you all for being here, and for your love of Mother Earth. My love and heart is with you in resistance and solidarity, my body is along the banks of Wounded Knee Creek, where I will fast all day and night to support you, and to be with you."
A statement was also read on behalf of Winona LaDuke of Honor the Earth by her son Ajuawak Kapashesit.
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"Now that we are spending more time at home, we are noticing the large number of delivery vans and lorries driving through cities," said Netherlands environment minister Stientje van Veldhoven, announcing plans to ban all but zero-emission deliveries in 14 cities.
"The agreements we are setting down will ensure that it will be a matter of course that within a few years, supermarket shelves will be stocked, waste will be collected, and packages will arrive on time, yet without any exhaust fumes and CO2 emissions," she added.
She expects 30 cities to announce zero emission urban logistics by this summer. City councils must give four years' notice before imposing bans as part of government plans for emission-free road traffic by 2050. The city bans aim to save 1 megaton of CO2 each year by 2030.
Help to Change
To encourage transport organizations to go carbon-free, the government is offering grants of more than US$5,900 to help businesses buy or lease electric vehicles. There will be additional measures to help small businesses make the change.
The Netherlands claims it is the first country in the world to give its cities the freedom to implement zero-emission zones. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht already have "milieuzones" where some types of vehicles are banned.
Tilburg, one of the first wave of cities imposing the Dutch ban, will not allow fossil-fuelled vehicles on streets within its outer ring road and plans to roll out a network of city-wide electric vehicle charging stations before the ban comes into effect in 2025.
"Such initiatives are imperative to improve air quality. The transport of the future must be emission-free, sustainable, and clean," said Tilburg city alderman Oscar Dusschooten.
Europe Takes Action
Research by Renault shows that many other European cities are heading in the same direction as the Netherlands, starting with Low Emission Zones of which Germany's "Umweltzone" were pioneers. More than 100 communes in Italy have introduced "Zonas a traffico limitato."
Madrid's "zona de baja emisión" bans diesel vehicles built before 2006 and petrol vehicles from before 2000 from central areas of the city. Barcelona has similar restrictions and the law will require all towns of more than 50,000 inhabitants to follow suit.
Perhaps the most stringent restrictions apply in London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which charges trucks and large vehicles up to US$137 a day to enter the central area if they do not comply with Euro 6 emissions standards. From October, the ULEZ is being expanded.
Cities are responsible for around 75% of CO2 emissions from global final energy use, according to the green thinktank REN21 - and much of these come from transport. Globally, transport accounts for 24% of world CO2 emissions.
The Rise of Online Shopping
Part of the reason for traffic in urban areas is the increase in delivery vehicles, as online shopping continues to grow. Retailer ecommerce sales are expected to pass $5billion in 2022, according to eMarketer.
The World Economic Forum's report The Future of the Last-Mile Ecosystem, published in January 2020, estimates that e-commerce will increase the number of delivery vehicles on the roads of the world's 100 largest cities by 36% by 2030.
If all those vehicles burn fossil fuels, the report says emissions will increase by 32%. But switching to all-electric delivery vehicles would cut emissions by 30% from current levels as well as reducing costs by 25%, the report says.
Other solutions explored in the report include introducing goods trams to handle deliveries alongside their passenger-carrying counterparts and increased use of parcel lockers to reduce the number of doorstep deliveries.
Reposted with permission from the World Economic Forum.