A climate activist holds a victory sign in Washington, DC. after President Obama announced that he would reject the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal on November 6, 2015. Mark Wilson / Getty Images
By Jake Johnson
The Supreme Court late Monday upheld a federal judge's rejection of a crucial permit for Keystone XL and blocked the Trump administration's attempt to greenlight construction of the 1,200-mile crude oil project, the third such blow to the fossil fuel industry in a day—coming just hours after the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the court-ordered shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
<p>While the ruling was not a total victory for the climate—the high court <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/06/politics/keystone-xl-supreme-court-pipeline/index.html" target="_blank">said</a> other pipeline projects can proceed as environmental reviews are conducted—green groups applauded the delay of Keystone XL construction as further confirmation of their view that the Canada-owned pipeline will never be built thanks to legal obstacles and fierce grassroots opposition.</p><p>"Three dangerous pipelines delayed within 24 hours should serve as a clear warning to any companies hoping to double down on dirty fossil fuel projects," <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/scotus-denies-trump-administration-further-delaying-keystone-xl-pipeline/" target="_blank">said</a> Greenpeace USA climate campaign director Janet Redman. "For more than a decade now, a powerful movement has been taking on reckless oil and gas pipelines and fighting to put Indigenous rights, a just economy, and our environment before oil company profits."</p><p>"It is past time to leave fossil fuels in the ground," Redman added, "and begin a just transition to a Green New Deal and 100 percent renewable energy."</p>
<div id="4dce6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d65802fa887eb38051c6d92edeab4500"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1280301750352633857" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">24 hours. 3 dirty pipelines delayed.
✅ #NoACP
✅ #NoDAPL
✅ #NoKXL
The movement to put people before profits and… https://t.co/51cuHSdp9w</div> — Greenpeace USA (@Greenpeace USA)<a href="https://twitter.com/greenpeaceusa/statuses/1280301750352633857">1594082698.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Supreme Court's decision upheld a Montana judge's April <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/16/tremendous-victory-indigenous-and-climate-campaigners-celebrate-federal-court-deals" target="_blank">ruling</a> that the Trump administration violated the Endangered Species Act by issuing a water-crossing permit for Keystone XL without fully assessing the damage the pipeline could inflict on wildlife along its planned route from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska.</p><p>As <em>Bloomberg</em> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-06/keystone-pipeline-stays-blocked-in-u-s-supreme-court-order" target="_blank">reported</a>, the Supreme Court's ruling "means almost all Keystone XL construction is delayed until 2021."</p><p>Kendall Mackey, Keep It in the Ground campaigner with 350.org, <a href="https://350.org/press-release/us-supreme-court-kxl-permit-ruling-upheld/" target="_blank">celebrated</a> the high court's decision to stall construction of Keystone XL "despite the Trump administration's desperate pleas and corporate pandering."</p><p>"This pipeline continues to be an epic boondoggle for Big Oil," said Mackey. "Tribal nations, farmers and ranchers, and allies across the country in solidarity with resistance to Keystone XL are not going anywhere—we will continue fighting to protect our climate from fossil fuel corporations at every turn."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/07/24-hours-3-dirty-pipelines-delayed-supreme-court-rejects-trump-effort-greenlight" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p><a href="https://commons.commondreams.org/t/24-hours-3-dirty-pipelines-delayed-supreme-court-rejects-trump-effort-to-greenlight-keystone-xl-construction/79909" target="_blank"></a>From Your Site Articles
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Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks on the coronavirus outbreak on March 12. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Image
If elected president in November, Joe Biden will ax the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
<p>The long-delayed pipeline, which would carry around 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to the U.S., was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/breaking-president-obama-rejects-keystone-xl-pipeline-1882117930.html" target="_self">first rejected by the Obama administration</a> when Biden served as vice president. However, President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/state-department-approve-kxl-2326597009.html" target="_self">revived</a> it when he took office, and the Biden campaign had so far been silent on what Biden would do about the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> project if he defeats him. That silence ended Monday.</p><p>"Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as President and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit," Biden campaign policy director Stef Feldman wrote in a statement to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/18/biden-white-house-keystone-xl-permit-265041" target="_blank">POLITICO</a>.</p>
<p>In a fuller statement reported by CBC News's Katie Simpson, the Biden campaign used the occasion to criticize the Trump administration's attitude towards <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/science" target="_self">science</a>.</p><p>"He reversed our decision to not permit the Keystone pipeline without any further process or review, and contrary to the science and now his Administration and its allies are even using the coronavirus pandemic as cover for a stealth attack on environmental protections that keep us safe," the campaign wrote. "That denial of science ends on day one of a Biden presidency."</p>
<div id="c398c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e64870c562b2ed8c31cbd5f5f513329f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1262428503947034625" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Part of the Biden campaign statement on Trump and Keystone: “He reversed our decision to not permit the Keystone pi… https://t.co/p9k4nPz0aV</div> — Katie Simpson (@Katie Simpson)<a href="https://twitter.com/CBCKatie/statuses/1262428503947034625">1589821384.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>When President Barack Obama rejected the pipeline in 2015, he did so partly because it would contribute to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, making him the first world leader to reject a major fossil fuel project for climate reasons. Biden reportedly opposed the project as early as 2013, saying he was "in the minority" of those in the administration who did, according to <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/18/joe-biden-campaign-said-he-would-rescind-keystone-pipeline-permit/5216015002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY</a>.</p><p>However, as a candidate, Biden did not join other primary contenders like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in signing the activist-supported "<a href="http://boldnebraska.org/democratic-presidential-candidates-sign-nokxl-pledge-to-stop-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-on-day-one-if-elected/" target="_blank">NoKXL Pledge</a>" to revoke the pipeline's permit on day one of their presidency.</p><p>His announcement Monday was met with enthusiasm by pipeline opponents.</p><p>"When Biden wins, KXL is finished, dead in the water, stake-in-the-heart dead," chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and longtime anti-pipeline activist Jane Kleeb said in an email to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/biden-kxl-1.5574515" target="_blank">CBC News</a>. "Biden just provided the last nail in the KXL pipeline coffin."</p>
<div id="a66bd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5f1a39b9c9c85513eccae9e9bfdf61ad"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1262404201507938304" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Hell ya! Go @JoeBiden, thanks for standing with the people over big oil. “Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipel… https://t.co/sMhaL0xYtC</div> — Jane Fleming Kleeb (@Jane Fleming Kleeb)<a href="https://twitter.com/janekleeb/statuses/1262404201507938304">1589815590.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Pipeline owner TC Energy did not respond immediately to POLITICO's request for a comment, but Biden's position could be a major hurdle for the project, which just <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-construction-montana-2645658110.html" target="_self">started construction in April</a>. There is no way the project, which is expected to take two years, will be complete before the November presidential election, according to CBC News. The pipeline also hit another legal roadblock this spring when a federal judge in Montana <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-waterways-endangered-species-2645978077.html" target="_self">revoked</a> a key permit it needs to cross streams.</p>
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Federal Judge: Pipelines Must Not Cross Streams Without Considering Endangered Species
12 May
Energy
Gnats hover near a barn equipped with solar panels and a wind turbine on Oct. 11, 2014 in Polk, Nebraska. The barn was built directly in the path of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline by Bold Nebraska, an organization opposed to the pipeline. Andrew Burton / Getty Images
A federal judge upheld his April 15 ruling Monday, tossing a key permit required by the Keystone XL and other pipeline projects to cross streams and wetlands.
<p>Montana U.S. District Judge Brian Morris affirmed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot use a blanket water-crossing permit to approve new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-and-gas" target="_self">oil and gas</a> pipelines without considering their impacts on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered species</a>.</p><p>"The court rightly ruled that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump-administration" target="_self">Trump administration</a> can't continue to ignore the catastrophic effects of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> pipelines like Keystone XL," <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> (CBD) senior attorney Jared Margolis said in a <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/federal-court-upholds-ruling-blocking-permit-critical-keystone-xl-other-oil-and-gas-pipelines-2020-05-11/" target="_blank">press release</a>. "Constructing pipelines through rivers, streams and wetlands without analyzing the impacts on imperiled species is unconscionable. We'll continue to fight to protect vulnerable species, our waters and the climate from this kind of reckless development."</p>
<div id="95daf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c38f575959a7ec46b75f26c60b001fe6"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1260002105856835585" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">“The court rightly ruled that the Trump administration can’t continue to ignore the catastrophic effects of fossil… https://t.co/c8Ih1Fn0qs</div> — Center for Bio Div (@Center for Bio Div)<a href="https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv/statuses/1260002105856835585">1589242886.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>At stake is a permit called Nationwide Permit 12, which the Army Corps uses to fast-track approvals for construction across waterways, <a href="https://apnews.com/2664f71668c4961a90000f74e3567921" target="_blank">The Associated Press explained</a>.</p><p>Morris ruled in April that the Army Corps did not consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service as to how these crossings would impact endangered species when it renewed the permit in 2017, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pipelines-court/montana-judge-upholds-ruling-that-canceled-keystone-xl-pipeline-permit-idUKKBN22O07T" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>Morris' April ruling was in response to a lawsuit brought by environmental groups focusing on the approval process for the Keystone XL pipeline specifically. However, the ruling blocked the use of Nationwide Permit 12 for all projects, CBD explained.</p><p>Utility groups and the government asked Morris to alter his ruling, arguing that it interfered with thousands of construction projects, according to The Associated Press. In response, Morris said that the permit could be used for electrical lines or pipeline repairs, but not the construction of new oil and gas pipelines.</p><p>"To allow the Corps to continue to authorize new oil and gas pipeline construction could seriously injure protected species and critical habitat," Morris wrote, according to The Associated Press.</p>
<p>The ruling does not actually block construction work on Keystone XL or other pipelines, but it is another setback for the long-delayed project, since it now cannot build across streams without further environmental review.</p><p>The Keystone XL pipeline would carry around 830,000 barrels of oil a day along 1,200 miles from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to Nebraska, where it would connect with pipelines traveling to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast. It was first <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/breaking-president-obama-rejects-keystone-xl-pipeline-1882117930.html">blocked by President Barack Obama</a> over fears it would contribute to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, but President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/state-department-approve-kxl-2326597009.html" target="_self">resuscitated</a> it in 2017.</p><p>Pipeline owner TC Energy said it would "promptly" appeal the ruling, according to Reuters.</p>
<p>Other members of the fossil fuel industry also plan to appeal.</p><p>"Arbitrarily singling out certain new projects only prolongs the highly disruptive nature of this order," Amy Conway of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America told The Associated Press.</p><p>But environmental advocates thought the law was on Morris' side.</p><p>"Our courts have shown time and time again that the law matters," <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> (NRDC) attorney Cecilia Segal said in the CBD Press release. "Today's ruling makes clear that climate-busting pipelines like Keystone XL cannot be built until the federal government does its job and properly analyzes these projects' devastating effects on their surrounding communities and wildlife. If that analysis is based on science and facts, pipelines like Keystone XL will never see the light of day because they remain, and always will be, a dire threat to our water, wildlife and climate."</p>
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Keystone XL pipes for construction in Swanton, Nebraska on Aug. 13, 2009. shannonpatrick17 / CC BY 2.0
A federal judge delivered a win to endangered species and a blow to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on Wednesday when he tossed a crucial permit it needed to cross hundreds of rivers and streams.
<p>The ruling marks yet another setback for the 1,200 mile-long <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> project that was first proposed in 2008 but canceled twice during the Obama administration over <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate</a> concerns before President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-dakota-access-pipeline-2211697835.html" target="_self">resuscitated it</a> in the early days of his administration, <a href="https://apnews.com/89e3f21d344db86b8743665ea66b892c?fbclid=IwAR0kumWGAufq5r1b29Lpt0ICrF1lfawZfHJyOV23_oxYoWCVaQCqudIK-MM" target="_blank">The Associated Press Reported</a>.</p><p>"The court has rightfully ruled against the Trump administration's efforts to fast track this nasty pipeline at any cost," Tamara Toles O'Laughlin of environmental group <a href="http://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> said in a statement reported by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/15/keystone-xl-pipeline-montana-judge-environment" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "We won't allow fossil fuel corporations and backdoor politicians to violate the laws that protect people and the planet."</p><p>Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ruled in Montana in favor of a coalition of green groups including the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) who brought the suit challenging the permit last year, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/keystone-xl-pipeline-permit-us-district-judge-decision_n_5e97bf35c5b6a92100e1ee52?ri18n=true" target="_blank">HuffPost reported</a>.</p>
<div id="91d57" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9114b83e194142f26c81bc821694cfff"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1250603275218452481" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Today, following a lawsuit by @BoldNebraska, @CenterForBioDiv, @Friends_Earth, @norplains, @SierraClub & @NRDC a ju… https://t.co/Sh6ePQ4D0H</div> — NRDC 🌎🏡 (@NRDC 🌎🏡)<a href="https://twitter.com/NRDC/statuses/1250603275218452481">1587002030.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>He found that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not consider how a 2017 water crossing permit would impact endangered species like pallid sturgeon.</p><p>While the decision comes less than two weeks after <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-construction-montana-2645658110.html" target="_self">pipeline construction started</a> on the U.S. / Canada border in Montana, it won't immediately halt that construction, The Associated Press reported. However, it could cause major delays going forward.</p><p>"It creates another significant hurdle for the project," Anthony Swift of NRDC told The Associated Press. "Regardless of whether they have the cross border segment ... Keystone XL has basically lost all of its Clean Water Act permits for water crossings."</p><p>Pipeline owner TC Energy said it would review the decision but pledged to move ahead.</p><p>"We remain committed to building this important energy infrastructure project," the company said in a statement reported by The Guardian.</p><p>However, the project could face an even more immediate setback. The same judge will hear a case Thursday, April 16 brought by tribal communities seeking an injunction to halt the just-started construction on the border over concerns construction workers could bring the new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> to rural communities there.</p>
<div id="d1062" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="873afbda3860a59a863fde11772d166b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1250563204423376896" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Tomorrow, the same federal judge will hear from Tribes calling for Trump’s presidential permit to be rescinded. It… https://t.co/aUDKzEZbaC</div> — 350 dot org (@350 dot org)<a href="https://twitter.com/350/statuses/1250563204423376896">1586992476.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>If and when the project is completed, it would transport around 830,000 barrels of oil a day from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada to Nebraska, where it would connect to pipelines leading to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.</p>
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Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has restricted the ability to gather in peaceful assembly, a Canadian company has moved forward with construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, according to the AP.
<p>As <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-construction-2645607020.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">EcoWatch</a> reported, last week Canada-based TC Energy said it would start construction despite the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate</a> impacts of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_self">pipeline</a> and the concerns about transporting construction crews during the coronavirus outbreak.</p><p>The construction that began yesterday involved around 100 workers in a remote border crossing between Montana and Canada, which is home to cattle ranches and wheat fields, according to a spokesperson from TC Energy, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/953d36b581092315a55aab0a87f59fef" target="_blank">AP</a> reported. The number of people involved in the construction is supposed to grow into the thousands as construction advances.</p>
<p>The government in Alberta is throwing in $1.1 billion to support construction of the pipeline, which will stretch 1,210 miles from the town of Hardisty, in Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska, and will begin operating in 2023, as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/490419-controversial-keystone-xl-pipeline-construction-to-proceed" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported. The investment from Alberta's government will support construction through 2020 and triggered the surprise announcement that construction would begin. The pipeline is predicted to carry 830,00 barrels of crude every day for transfer to refineries and export terminals in the Gulf of Mexico.</p><p>Alberta will also guarantee a $6 billion loan to TC Energy.</p>
<p><br>On Friday, Montana's Department of Environmental Quality issued the final state permits the company needed, agency spokeswoman Rebecca Harbage said, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/953d36b581092315a55aab0a87f59fef" target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p><p>Even though the pipeline has been delayed for some time as it has been held up in court and demand for oil has plummeted, and even though Montana is under "stay-at-home" orders, the pipeline was granted an exception to Gov. Steve Bullock's order. The "stay-at-home" directive did not address worker camps, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/953d36b581092315a55aab0a87f59fef" target="_blank">AP</a>.</p><p>The plans for the pipeline call for 11 worker camps, some housing up to 1,000 people. Local officials and tribal leaders for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous-peoples" target="_self">indigenous people</a> say the camps could potentially spread the coronavirus into the area. Gov. Bullock, who is concerned about the virus spreading, "would want those concerns addressed prior to TC Energy and their contractors finalizing their plans of operations for those segments of construction," said spokeswoman Marissa Perry to the <a href="https://apnews.com/953d36b581092315a55aab0a87f59fef" target="_blank">AP</a>.</p><p>TC Energy said it would check all workers for fever and ensure they practice social distancing.</p>
<p>However, as Bill McKibben, founder of 360.org, noted in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/05/climate-crisis-villains-oil-industry-big-banks-pipelines" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, the worker camps on the edge of Native American territory bring up memories of introduced epidemics that wiped out 90 percent of the Native American population.</p><p>"As Faith Spotted Eagle of the Yankton Sioux put it, 'this causes eerie memories for us [of] the infected smallpox blankets that were distributed to tribes intentionally,'" McKibben wrote.</p><p>Environmental activists agreed with that assessment.</p><p>"This is a shameful new low," Catherine Collentine, associate director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign, said in a statement, as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/490419-controversial-keystone-xl-pipeline-construction-to-proceed" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported. "By barreling forward with construction during a global pandemic, TC Energy is putting already vulnerable communities at even greater risk."</p>
<p><br>A hearing to block the work is scheduled for April 16. In January, the federal judge who will hear arguments did not issue an order to stop work because TC Energy said there were no immediate plans to begin work, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/953d36b581092315a55aab0a87f59fef" target="_blank">AP</a>.</p><p>Stephan Volker, an attorney for the environmental groups asking the judge to intervene, said the company's decision to "jump the gun" before next week's hearing was an insult to U.S. District Judge Brian Morris, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/953d36b581092315a55aab0a87f59fef" target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p>"We are confident the court will not be bullied, and will overturn President <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump">Trump</a>'s second approval, just as he overturned President Trump's first approval, as unlawful," Volker said.
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A sign marks the ground covering TransCanada's Keystone I pipeline outside of Steele City, Nebraska on April 21, 2012. Lucas Oleniuk / Toronto Star via Getty Images
The company behind the controversial and long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline announced it would proceed with the project Tuesday, despite concerns about the climate impacts of the pipeline and the dangers of transporting construction crews during a pandemic.
<p>Pipeline owner TC Energy Corp. also announced that Alberta's government had invested around $1.1 billion to cover most construction costs through the end of 2020, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/tc-energy-keystone-xl-pipeline-1.5515850" target="_blank">CBC News reported</a>. The completed 1,210 mile pipeline will have the capacity to transport 830,000 barrels of oil a day from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska, where it will connect to pipelines traveling to Gulf Coast refineries, <a href="https://www.tcenergy.com/announcements/2020-03-31tc-energy-to-build-keystone-xl-pipeline/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=marketingcloud&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_term=" target="_blank">TC Energy said</a>. Construction along the pipeline route in Alberta, at the U.S. and Canadian border and in the states of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska will begin immediately, CBC News reported.</p>
<p>"This is a shameful new low," <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/dirty-fuels" target="_blank">Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels</a> campaign associate director Catherine Collentine said in a statement reported by <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/490419-controversial-keystone-xl-pipeline-construction-to-proceed" target="_blank">The Hill</a>. "By barreling forward with construction during a global pandemic, TC Energy is putting already vulnerable communities at even greater risk."</p><p>The pipeline has long faced opposition from environmentalists who say it promotes the use of especially dirty <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tar-sands" target="_self">tar sands</a> oil in a time of climate crisis, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous" target="_self">indigenous</a> and local communities who oppose its construction on their land.</p>
<p>Following nationwide protests, President Barack Obama <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/breaking-president-obama-rejects-keystone-xl-pipeline-1882117930.html" target="_self">blocked construction in 2015</a>, but President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-keystone-xl-2633379906.html" target="_self">reversed that decision</a> when he took office. The Nebraska Supreme Court smoothed one regulatory hurdle when it <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-approved-2640036828.html" target="_self">approved an alternative route</a> for the pipeline in 2019 despite the opposition of landowners and Native American tribes, but, according to CBC News, a hearing in another case against the pipeline will take place in Montana April 16.</p>
<p>The timing of TC Energy's announcement has spawned a new line of opposition, however — communities along the pipeline route who are concerned that construction crews could spread the new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a>.<br></p><p>Even before TC Energy's announcement, the group <a href="http://boldnebraska.org/" target="_blank">Bold Nebraska</a> <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/cancel-kxl-halt-all-keystone-xl-construction-due-to-public-health-emergency/" target="_blank">launched an online petition</a> calling on the company to cancel all construction in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska while the outbreak lasts.</p><p>"Our rural communities are strained as it is for medical supplies and hospital beds amid a global pandemic. TC energy must put an end to any construction in our small towns as the pandemic grows across our country," the group's founder Jane Kleeb told <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/31/824445928/builder-of-controversial-keystone-xl-pipeline-says-its-moving-forward?t=1585728249044" target="_blank">NPR</a>.</p><p>TC Energy, meanwhile, argued that it could keep workers and communities safe and keep building.</p><p>"During construction, we will continue to take guidance from all levels of government and health authorities to determine the most proactive and responsible actions in order to ensure the safety of our crews and community members during the current COVID-19 situation. Construction will advance only after every consideration for the health and safety of our people, their families and of those in the surrounding communities has been taken into account," TC Energy President and CEO Russ Girling said in a statement.</p>
<p>The Alberta government, which is backing the project both with an initial investment and a $4.2 billion loan, said the project would generate more than 1,400 direct and 5,400 indirect jobs and would bring in $30 billion to the governments of Alberta and Canada, according to CBC.</p><p>"We cannot wait for the end of the pandemic and the global recession to act. There are steps we must make now to build our future focused on jobs, the economy and pipelines," Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said, according to NPR.</p><p>But Kleeb argued to NPR that the project was not such a sure bet, noting that if a Democrat wins the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the pipeline may well be vetoed again.</p><p>Keith Stewart, a senior energy strategist with <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/" target="_blank">Greenpeace Canada</a>, also questioned the wisdom of Kenney's investment.</p><p>"He may want voters to believe that boom times are just around the corner, but even before COVID-19, global investors and central bankers were warning that the smart money is moving out of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>," he told CBC News.</p>
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'Overt Bastardization of the Truth': Valve Turner Listed as 'Extremist' by U.S. Government Faces Upcoming Trial
07 February
Climate
Ken Ward cuts the chain of the Trans Mountain stop valve site in Skagit County, Washington. Climate Direct Action
The valve turners recently listed by Homeland Security as "extremists" believe their action of shutting down 15 percent of the daily U.S. oil supply on Oct. 11, 2016 was their only option of fighting the climate crisis.
<p>Valve turner Ken Ward of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateDirectAction/" target="_blank">Climate Direct Action</a> is going to trial this spring for the third time. He is charged with burglary and sabotage. EcoWatch teamed up with Ward and his attorney Lauren Regan, the executive director and co-founder of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/theCLDC/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Civil Liberties Defense Center</a>, on EcoWatch Live to share what this trial means for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/activists" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate activists</a> and why the U.S. government is listing some of these peaceful activists alongside mass murderers and white supremacists.</p><p>Watch the interview here:</p><p><br/></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8d927133a5ec5910e50d58e66ff0a360"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/3188776171151645/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>"In a fairly short period of time, after making some phone calls to pipeline companies, we broke in to enclosures, cut some chains, closed what are called safety block valves and closed down all five pipelines that carry tar sands oil from Canada into the U.S.," Ward said of the October 2016 direct action. It "might count as the most significant thing I've ever done on climate."</p><p>Ward, who has been working in energy policy since 1978, including a variety of strategic approaches to climate change says "what sociologists and political scientists are demonstrating is that faced with this kind of situation, faced with an intractable political environment, where powerful industries have billions to spend ... the single most effective thing that you can do is do engage in nonviolent direct action."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjY2OTUwMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzMyNTY1M30.P4Mb8Tp7afKYiZRdL3xsnpBaty1i5RWf_cV8mAV1jc0/img.jpg?width=980" id="5cf32" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="44ba14da2d3427dc284a0377f4a272fc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Five members of Climate Direct Action are seen before a coordinated effort to turn off valves on a pipeline in four states. Climate Direct Action
<p>In mid January, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security listed these valve turners as "suspected environmental rights extremists" and "domestic terrorists." What does this listing mean for climate activists? </p><p>Regan is not surprised by this "rhetorical" listing.</p><p>"The far right and the fossil fuel industry are spending about $30 billion in a media campaign, basically a smear campaign. It's one of the last-ditch efforts to try and persuade Americans that their gross profits are worth more than <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/clean-water" target="_self">clean water </a>and a healthy planet," Regan says. "As they're gasping for their last profiteering breaths, they are pulling out all of the dirty tricks that those types of profiteering industries have used historically."</p><p>Such listings seem to have no relevance for climate activists, as those who engage in direct action are aware of risks such as being arrested and potentially facing serious consequences.</p><p>Regan points to "the overt bastardization of the truth or manipulation of reality by those industries." It's an attempt to "frame nonviolent civil disobedience as the same type of action as Nazis who murdered humans or anti-choice zealots that murder abortion doctors. I think normal humans with thinking brains see the incredible difference between those scenarios. It really exposes the desperation of the industry in my opinion."<span></span></p><p>Ward mentions the "immense privilege" he has to engage in direct action here in the U.S. "Most people doing this around the world are getting killed or going to prison for long periods of time," he says. "The costs are so low compared to that."</p><p>Because Ward is engaged in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-action">climate action,</a> he doesn't have "a certain amount of existential dread." He'd doing what he can. "I encourage everybody to think of what you could do," because we're out of time he says.</p><p>In the upcoming trial, Regan is defending Ward on the grounds of the climate necessity defense, something Ward was not permitted to offer in his first or second trial which both landed in a hung jury. Although Ward finished his sentence after the second trial, he chose to appeal anyway on the basis that he wasn't allowed to use the only defense he had.</p><p>Regan outlines where they are in the process:</p><blockquote>A defendant pursuant to the Sixth Amendment is entitled to assert defenses and have jurors who are the fact finders in trials determine whether or not the defense actually passed muster. The Washington Court of Appeals ruled in our favor and affirmed the right of a defendant to use the climate necessity defense. <br><br>The state then appealed up to the Washington Supreme Court. The Washington Supreme Court ruled in our favor and again affirmed the right to a climate necessity defense, thereby creating Washington state precedent for future activists to be able to use.<br><br>Since that time there has been one other climate activist that was prosecuted since our appellate victory and the state did not even attempt to hinder their right to use the defense at trial. <br><br>So now we will move forward with the ability to put on expert witnesses and to be able to argue to the jury that when you are balancing the harms of cutting a lock and temporarily shutting a block valve compared to the serious and imminent harms of the climate crisis, sea level rise, forest fires and everything else that is going on in terms of harm from climate change, when you balance those two things clearly the scales tip in favor of engaging in direct action to avert the catastrophic impacts of climate change.</blockquote>
<p>When EcoWatch asks how a victory in Ward's upcoming case would be good news for climate activists, Regan says "it's already good news for climate activists." For example, in Minnesota, where valve turners have also been granted the right to use the necessity defense, climate activists will be able to use it to argue a case to fight the Line 3 pipeline.</p><p>Regan stresses the importance of the upcoming trial: "It will be the first time that 12 jurors will be given all of the evidence and information to actually do that weighting and that balancing," Regan says, while realizing that it's a "big ask" for the public to justify a crime for the greater good.</p><p>"We've been really trained that when the state tells you that something is a crime that you're supposed to think it's bad and you're supposed to punish them," Regan says. "In light of all of the broken systems of democracy right now in our country, more and more people are coming to the realization that we may have to fight for our own lives and not rely on global policies and the fossil fuels corruption of the democratic processes."</p><p>This trial will find out whether Americans who are not necessarily engaged in climate activism, the jurors, will agree that nonviolent direct action is justified in the face of the climate crisis, in what Regan says, will be a first.</p>
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Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event held on Jan. 03 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
The Trump administration will continue its assault on the environment when it unveils new regulations on Wednesday that will limit the types of projects that require environmental review and it will no longer require federal agencies to consider impacts on the climate crisis in new infrastructure projects, as Reuters reported.
<p>The changes to the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) could pave the way for projects like the Keystone XL pipeline and other fossil fuel projects that have been held up by the courts because climate impacts were not considered in an environmental review, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/climate/trump-nepa-climate-change.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. </p>
<p>The new rule will also limit the scope of projects that need any environmental review. That means that proposed projects can be easily approved and not have to disclose intentions to discharge waste, increase <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> or clear-cut trees, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/climate/trump-nepa-climate-change.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The New York Times</a> reported. </p>
<p>The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which oversees how almost 80 percent of government agencies meet their NEPA obligations, will announce that federal agencies will no longer be asked to consider "cumulative" climate change impacts when looking at federal projects, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climate-nepa/trump-to-overhaul-environmental-review-process-dismiss-climate-impacts-sources-idUSKBN1Z50WW" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported. </p>
<p>Mary B. Neumayr, the president's top environmental adviser, who chairs the CEQ said the changes would allow for faster reviews and is fairer to applicants who must wait an average of 4.5 years to get a final decision on their applications, according to <a href="https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/faster-permitting-wont-harm-environment-top-trump-adviser-says" target="_blank">Bloomberg Environment</a>.</p>
<p>"It's a priority for this administration to have a process that's predictable and transparent and timely, so that we can get to a decision," Neumayr said to <a href="https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/faster-permitting-wont-harm-environment-top-trump-adviser-says" target="_blank">Bloomberg Environment</a>. "It may not always be the decision that the applicant has requested, but it's important that they get a decision."</p>
<p>Yet, that efficiency comes at a cost, according to critics.</p>
<p>"If your process is so efficient that you undercut getting the right information," then "you've lost something," said Brenda Mallory, former CEQ general counsel under the Obama administration, at a Dec. 17, 2019 panel convened by the Environmental Law Institute, as <a href="https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/faster-permitting-wont-harm-environment-top-trump-adviser-says" target="_blank">Bloomberg Environment</a> reported.</p>
<p>In a clever sleight of hand, the CEQ's proposal will not overhaul or replace NEPA. Instead, it will revise the rules that steer how the law is implemented. Once the proposal is released on Wednesday, there will be a 60-day public comment period before the change can go into effect, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/climate/trump-nepa-climate-change.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>"This proposal is really about trying to remove that barrier of the courts," said Christy Goldfuss, former chair of the CEQ between 2015 and 2017. She added that the Trump proposal would cause lasting damage, as Reuters reported.</p>
<p>Goldfuss said that environmental groups have relied on the courts to follow a requirement created under the Obama administration that forces applications to consider climate impacts. That rule has put a stop to a dozen big polluting projects, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climate-nepa/trump-to-overhaul-environmental-review-process-dismiss-climate-impacts-sources-idUSKBN1Z50WW" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>If the rule goes through, it will weaken critical safeguards for air, water and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildlife</a>. It will also take away a powerful tool that environmental activists have employed to slow down or put a stop to coal and oil expansion, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/climate/trump-nepa-climate-change.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New York Times</a> reported. </p>
<p>"It has the potential to distort infrastructure planning by making it easier to ignore predictable futures that could severely degrade the projects," said Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/climate/trump-nepa-climate-change.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New York Times</a>. He added that not only will it lead to more pipelines and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, it will also lead put new roads and bridges at risk since sea-level rise will not be considered. </p>
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A Keystone Pipeline oil spill has affected nearly 10 times the amount of land than previously thought. CBC News / YouTube screenshot
A spill at the Keystone Pipeline that began last month has affected nearly 10 times the amount of land than previously thought, state officials said Monday.
<p>The AP reported that regulators have revised their estimates of the spill to approximately 209,100 square feet of land affected. The pipeline's owner, TransCanada, says it has recovered more than 141,000 gallons of oily water. The spill, which is the second major spill from Keystone in a decade, has raised alarm over the past few weeks among residents of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska living along the proposed route for the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/keystone-xl" target="_self">Keystone XL</a> project. "We've been doing this for 10 years, and we've watched spills along the way for 10 years, so it's no surprise to us," Nebraskan Jeanne Crumly, who is an affected landowner for the Keystone XL proposed path, told NPR. "So the question isn't if it will spill, the question is, 'Where?' And when it does, are we protected?"</p>
<p>As reported by the <a href="https://apnews.com/d3f301c4e5014981949be28fae8e15d7" target="_blank">AP</a>:</p><blockquote>Crude began flowing through the $5.2 billion pipeline in 2011. It's designed to carry crude oil across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri on the way to refineries in Patoka, Illinois and Cushing, Oklahoma. It can handle about 23 million gallons (87 million liters) daily.</blockquote><blockquote>It is part of a system that also is to include the proposed $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline designed to transport the oil from western Canada to terminals on the Gulf Coast.</blockquote><blockquote>The proposed Keystone XL pipeline has drawn <a href="https://apnews.com/c287d07793f94f3c9810f3b95195f40f" target="_blank">opposition</a> from people who fear it will cause environmental damage.</blockquote>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p>Land affected: <a href="https://apnews.com/d3f301c4e5014981949be28fae8e15d7" target="_blank">AP</a>. Residents: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/17/780231683/living-near-the-future-pipeline" target="_blank">NPR</a><br/></p><p> <em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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"We are establishing air quality, water and wildlife monitoring and will continue monitoring throughout the response" to Tuesday's Keystone spill. TC Energy
By Jake Johnson
Environmentalists were outraged but not at all surprised to learn Thursday that the Keystone pipeline sprung yet another massive leak, this time spilling 383,000 gallons of crude oil in North Dakota.
<p>"I wish I could say I was shocked, but a major spill from the Keystone pipeline is exactly what multiple experts predicted would happen," Greenpeace USA senior research specialist Tim Donaghy said in a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/10/31/keystone-pipeline-does-experts-predicted-spills-383000-gallons-oil-north-dakota" target="_blank">statement</a>. "In fact, this is the fourth significant spill from the Keystone pipeline in less than ten years of operation. History has shown us time and again that there is no safe way to transport fossil fuels, and pipelines are no exception."</p><p>As 350.org founder Bill McKibben <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1189966754488967168" target="_blank">tweeted</a> in response to the leak, "It happens over and over and over and over and over."</p><p>The latest Keystone spill was first detected Tuesday night by TC Energy, the pipeline's owner, and the extent of the damage to the surrounding areas is not yet known to the public. According to Greenpeace, the leak "is already the eighth-largest pipeline oil spill of the last decade."</p>
<div id="b39f3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="M4ORBF1576661212"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1189969040917200896" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Keystone pipeline just spilled AGAIN** — and is now the 8th largest pipeline oil spill in the past decade. 😡😡… https://t.co/lEap0N9BIc</div> — Greenpeace USA (@Greenpeace USA)<a href="https://twitter.com/greenpeaceusa/statuses/1189969040917200896">1572545702.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Brent Nelson, emergency manager for Walsh County, North Dakota, told the local Grand Forks Herald that the cleanup process could take months.</p><p>"The roads around the spill area have been closed to assist with the cleanup," the<em> </em><a href="https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/4746575-Keystone-Pipeline-leak-spills-oil-in-northeastern-North-Dakota" target="_blank">Herald reported</a>. "Walsh County Sheriff Ronald Jurgens asks the public to avoid the area so the cleanup process can proceed. On-site security will stop and fine any driver ignoring the closed road signs."</p><p>TC Energy, previously known as TransCanada, denied that the spill had any impact on drinking water, a claim that was met with skepticism.</p>
<div id="6eb2f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2HBVGN1576661212"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1189716317714223104" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Keystone Pipeline leak spills oil in northeastern North Dakota
Corp says the oil hasn’t contaminated any drinking… https://t.co/wcKZO7qCVn</div> — R u t h H o p k i n s (@R u t h H o p k i n s)<a href="https://twitter.com/RuthH_Hopkins/statuses/1189716317714223104">1572485448.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Catherine Collentine, associate director of Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels initiative, said "this is not the first time this pipeline has spilled toxic tar sands, and it won't be the last."</p><p>"We've always said it's not a question of whether a pipeline will spill, but when," said Collentine, "and once again TC Energy has made our case for us."</p><p>Keystone's leak in North Dakota was detected just hours after the U.S. State Department held a <a href="https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-news/at-billings-keystone-hearing-economic-hope-clashes-with-environmental-concern" target="_blank">public hearing</a> in Billings, Montana to solicit comments on the department's <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/KeystoneXL-Draft-SEIS_Oct-2019.pdf" target="_blank">new analysis</a> of the potential environmental impact of the Keystone XL project.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/774857502/774859315" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"></iframe><p>The Trump administration has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/11/09/saying-approval-trump-ignored-obvious-facts-and-threats-federal-judge-halts" target="_blank">worked hard to approve and accelerate</a> the project over the protests and legal challenges of indigenous rights organizations and green groups.</p><p>Joye Braun, frontline community organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, said the State Department meeting on Keystone XL "seemed more like an industry showcase rather than public comment hearing."</p><p>"We stand firm in opposing this project as the latest spill is further evidence of just how dangerous pipelines are," said Braun.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media partner <a href="http://commondreams.org/news/2019/10/31/it-happens-over-and-over-and-over-and-over-keystone-pipeline-leaks-least-383000?fbclid=IwAR0IYbQJ9EI9IwN0E2D7fpy3lFBhArSlZwVIcybDO-jDrq3KsGCpvP43Vs0" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
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Keystone Leaks Crude Oil in North Dakota on Same Day as Trump State Department Pipeline Hearing
31 October 2019
Energy
The Keystone pipeline spilled an unknown amount of crude oil across a quarter-mile area of northeastern North Dakota on Tuesday. Walsh County Emergency Management
By Jake Johnson
The Keystone pipeline spilled an unknown amount of crude oil across a quarter-mile area of northeastern North Dakota on Tuesday, the same day the Trump State Department held its sole public hearing on an environmental analysis of the widely opposed Keystone XL project.
<p>North Dakota environmental officials <a href="https://apnews.com/832aca2a059f471c993a55788a3fc719" target="_blank">said</a> Wednesday that they became aware of the leak late Tuesday night, and TC Energy — the pipeline's owner — shut down the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tar-sands" target="_self">tar sands</a> pipeline for an investigation into the spill.</p><p>The local Grand Forks Herald <a href="https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/4746575-Keystone-Pipeline-leak-spills-oil-in-northeastern-North-Dakota" target="_blank">reported</a> that TC Energy, previously known as TransCanada, had not fixed the leak as of Wednesday afternoon.</p><p>"The Department of Environmental Quality estimated the spill was about 1,500 feet in length by 15 feet wide," according to the Herald. "Steps are being taken to contain the release, but the volume of oil that has spilled is currently unknown, officials said. Walsh County Emergency Manager Brent Nelson said the spill is contained to a wetland and has affected an area where a local farmer cuts hay."</p><p>The company denied that the spill had any impact on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="_self">drinking water</a>, a claim that was met with skepticism.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Keystone Pipeline leak spills oil in northeastern North Dakota <br><br>Corp says the oil hasn’t contaminated any drinking water & they’re cleaning it up but anyone who drives to the site will be fined by their security so who knows what’s going on. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NOKXL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NOKXL</a> <a href="https://t.co/7H6Dcz4bsm">https://t.co/7H6Dcz4bsm</a></p>— Ruth Hopkins (@RuthH_Hopkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/RuthH_Hopkins/status/1189716317714223104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Keystone's latest leak came just hours after the U.S. State Department held a public meeting in Billings, Montana to solicit comments on the department's <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/KeystoneXL-Draft-SEIS_Oct-2019.pdf" target="_blank">new analysis</a> of the potential environmental impact of the Keystone XL project.</p><p>The Trump administration has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/11/09/saying-approval-trump-ignored-obvious-facts-and-threats-federal-judge-halts" target="_blank">worked hard to approve and accelerate</a> the project over the protests and legal challenges of indigenous rights organizations and green groups. Keystone XL would would carry up to 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska.</p><p>"The Keystone XL pipeline was a bad idea when it was proposed 11 years ago, and it remains a bad idea today," said the environmental group Bold Nebraska in a <a href="http://boldnebraska.org/nokxlcomments/" target="_blank">public comment</a> on the State Department analysis.</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a29642186/keystone-xl-pipeline-leak-risk-montana-meeting/" target="_blank">column</a> on Wednesday, Esquire's Charles Pierce wrote that, despite strong opposition, "the State Department will do anything to get this thing built. Anything."</p><p>"Pipelines leak. Pipeline companies lie about it," wrote Pierce. "That's the only permanent thing about them."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/31/same-day-trump-state-departments-pipeline-hearing-keystone-springs-crude-oil-leak" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Keystone XL pipeline protest in DC Nov. 6, 2011.
Emma Cassidy / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
A Nebraska court has granted a victory to the owner of the Keystone XL pipeline, removing one of the last major challenges in the project's way.
<p>The state's Supreme Court on Friday ruled unanimously that the state's Public Service Commission had acted in the public interest in approving an alternate route for the pipeline in November 2017. Challengers to the project say that the approval of an alternate route did not include appropriate input from landowners and tribes, who filed a motion with environmental groups to intervene. </p><p>"The Nebraska decision to approve the KXL route is not a surprise, but we had hoped they would be courageous to protect the earth, water, and wishes of the indigenous people and our allies," Yankton Sioux member Faith Spotted Eagle said in a statement released by 350. </p>
<div id="23423" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="HC103D1576661563"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1164902460969902080" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Just in: Nebraska’s Supreme Court has approved the route for the Keystone XL pipeline.
It’s a major boost for a p… https://t.co/Z8sOZJMB7c</div> — NPR (@NPR)<a href="https://twitter.com/NPR/statuses/1164902460969902080">1566569364.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p><a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=71a9c2b452&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=e9000b7983&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">NPR</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=1121b4240d&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=0aeb56dfbc&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">The Hill</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank">Twitter</a> </em><em>and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Indigenous and Green Groups Fighting Pipeline Urge 2020 Democrats to Take 'NoKXL Pledge'
14 August 2019
Politics
Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally at Lafayette Park next to the White House in Washington, DC, on Jan. 24, 2017. SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
Indigenous, environmental and landowner groups fighting to block the Keystone XL pipeline sent a letter Tuesday to the two dozen 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates, urging them to take the "NoKXL pledge" and vow — if elected — to revoke the Trump administration's permit for the tar sands oil project.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tell the Democratic candidates: Take the "NoKXL Pledge" to stop the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KeystoneXL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KeystoneXL</a> pipeline: <a href="https://t.co/3hu3lQgrye">https://t.co/3hu3lQgrye</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoKXLpledge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NoKXLpledge</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoKXL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NoKXL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoDAPL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NoDAPL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopLine3?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StopLine3</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HonorTheTreaties?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HonorTheTreaties</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WaterIsLife?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WaterIsLife</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ActOnClimate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ActOnClimate</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/BoldNebraska?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BoldNebraska</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/janekleeb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@janekleeb</a> <a href="https://t.co/GPJ8nZsNKZ">pic.twitter.com/GPJ8nZsNKZ</a></p>— Bold Nebraska (@BoldNebraska) <a href="https://twitter.com/BoldNebraska/status/1161349951697412097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>"There is no middle ground when it comes to protecting the land, water, and climate," Bold Nebraska founder Jane Kleeb <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/08/13/letter-urges-democratic-candidates-take-nokxl-pledge-stop-keystone-xl-pipeline" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement. "You either stand with family farmers, ranchers, Tribal Nations, and environmentalists — or you stand with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> corporations who are abusing eminent domain, and trampling on the treaty rights of Tribal Nations."<br></p><p>"Tribal Nations and communities are battling for the survival of our ecosystems and ways of life, and we need a president who will stand with us against <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/big-oil">Big Oil</a> and the fossil fuel regime," said Dallas Goldtooth, a Keep It in the Ground campaigner for the Indigenous Environmental Network. "Signing the NOKXL pledge is a solid step in the right direction."</p>
<p>The three-point NoKXL pledge, featured on Bold Nebraska's website, <a href="http://boldnebraska.org/nokxlpledge/" target="_blank">states</a>:</p><ul><li>If elected, I pledge to take executive action on Day One to stop any construction on the Keystone XL pipeline — no matter what — and revoke the existing presidential permits issued unilaterally by President Trump for the Keystone XL and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dakota-access-pipeline">Dakota Access</a> pipelines, sending both projects back to relevant federal agencies to undergo legitimate environmental review and Tribal consultations.</li><li>I pledge to direct all federal agencies (State Dept., FERC, Army Corps) to submit these two projects, as well as all new pipeline and energy infrastructure projects to a true climate test, and reject permits for any project that would exacerbate our climate crisis.</li><li>I pledge to protect the property rights of farmers and ranchers from eminent domain abuse, and to honor the treaties the U.S. government has signed with sovereign Tribal Nations.</li></ul>
<p>Natalie Mebane, associate director of U.S. Policy at 350 Action, called the pledge "a critical step in moving towards stopping all new fossil fuel projects and protecting communities already experiencing the devastation of fossil fuel disasters."</p><p>"To build systems that work for all of us, we must keep fossil fuels in the ground, prioritize Indigenous rights, workers, and frontline communities, and hold fossil fuel billionaires accountable for their destruction," Mebane added. "Together we've stopped the Keystone XL pipeline for over a decade. It's time all presidential candidates join us and commit to stopping KXL once and for all."</p><p>If constructed, the long-delayed pipeline <a href="https://www.tcenergy.com/operations/oil-and-liquids/keystone-xl/" target="_blank">would carry</a> up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil daily more than 1,000 miles from the Alberta tar sands, across Montana and South Dakota, to Nebraska. In a move that critics <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/29/snubbing-law-and-climate-trump-issues-new-permit-keystone-xl" target="_blank">decried</a> as a "ridiculous attempt" to skirt the law to benefit a fossil fuel company, President Donald Trump issued an "<a href="http://boldnebraska.org/nokxlpledge/" target="_blank">unprecedented and unilateral</a>" executive memorandum in March, granting TransCanada — <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-transcanada-results/pipeline-company-transcanada-changes-name-to-tc-energy-idUSKCN1S911H" target="_blank">now known as</a> TC Energy — a permit for the project.</p><p>"Our next president needs to listen to the science that says we can't build new fossil fuel projects and fight <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate change</a> at the same time, not the polluters who say we don't have a choice," Greenpeace USA climate campaigner Charlie Jiang said Tuesday. "Reversing Trump's misguided Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline authorizations on day one sends a clear message to the fossil fuel executives that their days of power over the White House are over."</p><p>Other groups co-sponsoring the pledge are the Bold Alliance, Nebraska Easement Action Team, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Sunrise Movement, CREDO, Oil Change U.S., Friends of the Earth Action, Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Climate Hawks Vote, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Progressive Democrats of America, NYC Grassroots Alliance, Earth Action, Bucks Environmental Network, Greenbelt Climate Action Network, Anthropocene Alliance, New York Climate Action Group, Coalition Against the Rockaway Pipeline, and Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipeline.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How Do the #2020 Candidates Rate on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Climate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Climate</a> Action? <a href="https://t.co/dHqa9a5wdK">https://t.co/dHqa9a5wdK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DeSmogBlog?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DeSmogBlog</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/climateprogress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@climateprogress</a></p>— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/1112082166379352065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/13/indigenous-and-green-groups-fighting-against-pipeline-urge-2020-democrats-take-nokxl?cd-origin=rss" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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