United States: Urge President Obama to Block Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline

Cultural Survival joins Native American and First Nations peoples and environmental organizations in calling on President Obama to reject a proposal to build the Keystone XL Pipeline that would carry crude oil from the Tar Sands of Alberta, Canada, across the United States to the Gulf Coast. The UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights reported that TransCanada Corporation obtained permission from the Alberta Utilities Commission to build the pipeline without first obtaining the consent of the Lubicon Lake Nation, whose lands, natural resources, and public health would be affected by the project.

The Indigenous Environmental Network charges that the project’s Environmental Impact Study did not adequately consider potential damage to American Indian Tribes and Tribal members in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, whose water aquifers, water ways, cultural sites, agricultural lands, animal life, public drinking water sources and other vital resources could be damaged by the project. Indigenous peoples and organizations from around the world, including Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu, are protesting the pipeline, and many Native people have been arrested during the non-violent protests in Canada and the United States over the past several weeks.

(Photo: Indigenous Environmental Network’s executive director Tom Godltooth was arrested during demonstrations against Keystone XL in front of the White House. Photo by Shadia Fayne Wood)

Cultural Survival stands in solidarity with all those whose non-violent protests against the Tar Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline put them at risk of arrest.

We encourage everyone to send emails to President Obama during the 90-day comment period (September, October, and November 2011). The comment form is at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

If you like, you may copy and paste this message into the form:

Dear President Obama,

The proposed Keystone XL Pipeline could cause terrible environmental damage, and Native American communities in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas will be particularly vulnerable to and affected by these damages. Tribes and Tribal members in these states have not been adequately informed and consulted, as required by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Please demonstrate your leadership in environmental protection, public health, and Indigenous Peoples’ rights by blocking the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. You will earn the acclaim and appreciation of many generations to come.

For more information, please see:
www.ienearth.org
www.tarsandsaction.org

Thank you very much for joining Cultural Survival in this very important civic action.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Benally
Executive Director

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/take-action/keystone