Latest News

Nobel Laureates: Reject the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline and "Be on the...

Recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize are calling for the rejection of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.  A letter from 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners addressed to both the President and Secretary of State Kerry announced by the Nobel Women's Initiative...

Read Full Story

Nobel Laureates: Reject the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline and "Be on the...

By Danielle Droitsch, June 18, 2013

Recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize are calling for the rejection of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.  A letter from 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners addressed to both the President and Secretary of State Kerry announced by the Nobel Women's Initiative was inspired by the Laureates’ concern for the rapidly expanding Canadian tar sands. As wildfires burn out of control in Colorado adding to record breaking weather across the nation, the Laureates said “as leaders who have spoken out strongly on these issues, we urge you, once again, to be on the right side of history and send a clear message that you are serious about moving beyond dirty oil.” The letter sent today followed an earlier letter sent in 2011 also calling for a rejection of Keystone XL. When the great moral leaders of our time, including Archbishop Tutu, call for a rejection of tar sands in the face of catastrophic climate change, it is time for the U.S. to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, a linchpin enabling the tripling of expansion of this dirty oil. 

 



Nobel Laureates including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama sent a previous letter to President Obama in September 2011. A copy of the advertisement in the Washington Post featuring the letter is above.

 

"Like millions of others, we were buoyed by words in the President’s second inaugural address: “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.”  Mr. President and Secretary Kerry, this is an opportunity to begin to fulfil that promise. While there is no one policy or action that will avoid dangerous climate change, saying ‘no’ to the Keystone XL pipeline is a critical step in the right direction. Now is the time for unwavering leadership." - Nobel Laureates Letter, 2013

The climate impacts of a world that accommodates tar sands expansion are unimaginable. If industry and the Canadian and Albertan governments had their way we would be on track for (6 degrees Centigrade) of global warming – triple the two degree limit that the President has promised to avoid.

 “The International Energy Agency, among many other respected bodies, has found that in order to prevent catastrophic global warming of over two degrees centigrade we must leave two thirds of fossil fuels in the ground.” – Nobel Laureates Letter, 2013

In addition to the climate pollution, the tar sands are doing irreversible damage to water, air, land, animals and communities in Northern Alberta and along their pipeline routes where the question of a spill is not if, but when.

“Recent tar sands oil spills in Kalamazo, MI and Mayflower AR have served as a harsh reminder that shipping the world’s dirtiest oil will never likely be safe enough for human health and the environment.” – Nobel Laureates Letter, 2013

President Obama and Senator Kerry have both been clear about the urgency and importance of dealing with climate change, and recognizing that as the world’s largest polluter, the U.S. is a critical player in ensuring a safe future for generations to come. The Keystone XL tar sand pipeline debate has illustrated the two pathways we face as a country. One that locks us into decades of dirty fossil fuels taking us down a path of negatively affecting millions of lives and livelihoods. And the other pathway, where we build real energy security based on clean and renewable energy that will protect our economy, our people, and future generations.

The Laureates acknowledged the President was under pressure to approve Keystone XL especially by big oil interests. 

“We also recognize the pressure from forces in your own country.  The Keystone XL pipeline will not benefit or improve the lives of Americans, but nevertheless we understand that the politics of action on climate are not easy.  We believe you are the kind of leaders who can stand up to those interests when necessary, to do what is right for the world and for future generations.” – Nobel Laureates Letter

The decision on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has emerged as an issue of international interest.  It is about standing up to big oil and rejecting the expansion of some of the dirtiest oil on earth.  President Obama and Secretary Kerry: it is time to say no to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline once and for all.

To comment on this post, visit BioGem's blog site, Switchboard

Apache Corp Spills Toxic Waste in Canada...what does this mean for Alaska's...

Here’s a bad omen for Cook Inlet beluga whales.  Apache Corp. – the same company that’s exploring for oil and gas in delicate Cook Inlet, Alaska – spilled an astounding 2.5 million gallons of toxic waste in Alberta, Canada this...

Read Full Story

Apache Corp Spills Toxic Waste in Canada...what does this mean for Alaska's...

By Taryn Kiekow, June 17, 2013

Here’s a bad omen for Cook Inlet beluga whales.  Apache Corp. – the same company that’s exploring for oil and gas in delicate Cook Inlet, Alaska – spilled an astounding 2.5 million gallons of toxic waste in Alberta, Canada this month.

The Alberta spill was big news last week, although it took the company almost two weeks to report it (and only after a local TV station got wind of the story).  Local residents now say the entire spill area is a dead zone.

 “Every plant and tree died” in the area touched by the spill, said James Ahnassay, chief of the Dene Tha First Nation. 

Information compiled by the Dene Tha suggests the spill was toxic, though Apache minimized the spill as “salty water,” with “trace amounts” of oil.

In Alaska, Apache has promised to “minimize” any impact to critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales as it explores for oil and gas in Cook Inlet.

Yeah, right.

Apache Alaska Corp. has leased approximately 850,000 acres in Cook Inlet to explore for oil and gas. It has already finished year one of exploration.  Concerned about impacts to beluga whales and other marine mammals from high-energy airgun surveys, NRDC, the Native Village of Chickaloon, Center for Water Advocacy, and Center for Biological Diversity challenged Apache’s permit – which allowed the company to “take” 30 beluga whales during the first year of its seismic exploration.

Did I mention that Cook Inlet beluga whales are highly endangered and only 312 of them are left on the planet?



Last month, a U.S. District Court Judge in Alaska ruled that the federal government’s decision to authorize Apache Alaska’s oil and gas exploration violated three federal statutes. The court ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) underestimated the take of Cook Inlet beluga whales, thereby rendering its calculations “arbitrary and capricious” and its permit to Apache “clearly erroneous” under the law.

The court ruled in favor of NMFS on other issues, finding that NMFS did not fail in its duty to ensure the availability of belugas for subsistence uses.

At the outset of the litigation, Gary Harrison, the traditional chief of the Chickaloon Native Village, expressed frustration with the potential impacts of Apache’s exploration on subsistence culture:   “Belugas are sacred to my tribe and part of our tradition.  Because so few of the whales remain, we no longer hunt them. Indigenous peoples are working to protect these whales, yet industry [Apache] can come into the Cook Inlet and harass 30 beluga whales every year as they look for oil and gas. It’s simply wrong.”

It turns out Chief Gary was right.  At least in Canada, Apache has left behind a huge swath of destruction. 

We’re continuing to fight to ensure that the past is not prologue in Cook Inlet.  Because Cook Inlet is no place to gamble on industry mistakes…or we could end up with 2.5 million gallons of spilled of toxic waste.

 

Photo courtesy of NOAA

To comment on this post, visit BioGem's blog site, Switchboard
• 

  NRDC BioGems News

  Read the latest BioGems developments in our monthly newsletter.

  See the latest issue >

More News