Keystone XL: A Symbol for the Modern Environmental Movement

Victories in the environmental and climate movement have been hard to come by lately. As the word "climate" has become increasingly more difficult to say in the political discussion, as the EPA struggles to hold onto its power, as fossil fuels continue to reign supreme, it's been hard to see how things are ever going to change at the rapid pace that the climate is changing.

But yesterday, President Obama announced he would delay his decision regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline until after the 2012 election. This decision came just four days after a massive protest in DC, where 12,000 people encircled the White House under the firm belief that if Obama approves the pipeline, there will be devastating consequences for the climate, indigenous peoples, water quality, boreal forests, the renewable energy economy, and more. These heroes encircled the White House more than four times. 

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Yesterday evening, I attended a timely panel at UC Berkeley hosted by the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative (BERC) and the Environmental Law Society, regarding the pipeline. The panel featured Jamie Henn, of 350.org; Dr. Paul Henshaw, UC Berkeley Professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences; Cassie Doyle, Consul-General of Canada in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley, and Sarah Burt, of Earthjustice.

The hour and a half of discussion brought some really important and pertinent questions to the table. Is the pipeline a better alterative to bringing politically and physically messy oil from overseas via tankers? Is modern pipeline technology safe enough to make this a good idea? What will it do for gas prices? Jobs? Will building this pipeline further inhibit clean energy companies like wind farms and solar firms to break into the market? What would the pipeline say about our national attitude toward climate change? I urge you to explore all of these questions yourself by researching the facts and evaluating your priorities.

While many interesting perspectives were brought up over the course of the discussion, I absolutely stand by original stance - that this pipeline cannot be justified, and should not be built under any circumstances. The tar sands in Alberta make up the third largest oil reserve in the world. As Jamie Henn reminded us, James Hansen (top climate scientist from NASA) has stated that if we were to utilize the oil from that tar sands reserve, it would be essentially game over for the climate. While Dr. Henshaw reminded us that there are new technologies like horizontal and dual-well systems, nothing can overcome the implications for the global climate. Cassie Doyle reminded us that Canada's energy profile is cleaner and more efficient than ours in the United States - and that's precisely the problem. The US has to end its addiction to oil. 

The costs of this pipeline to the environment, climate, and indigenous livelihoods are just too great. And that's why I am so ecstatic about Obama's announcement yesterday - even though it's not a "no," it's a "I acknowledge the opposition and I think you're right - this needs more review." It gives us even more time to prove that the people of the United States do not want this.

So why did this fight win? How did it build so much momentum? Why did this fight come to the forefront of the movement? 

Over the past five years or so, the "environmental" movement has fractured and changed shape. Due to the evolution of climate politics, there are often splits between environmental conservationists and climate activists ("climate hawks.") Wind turbines vs. migratory bird and bat well-being. Hydropower vs. healthy rivers. Nuclear energy and the many facets of that debate.

But this issue, the Keystone XL issue, unites these fronts. Whether you're an environmentalist or a climate hawk, a John Muir preservationist or a Gifford Pinchot utilitarian, you have a place in this movement. The Keystone XL brought together people who care about renewables, people who care about forests, people who care about human rights, people who care about democracy and hate corporations, people who care about the climate, and people who just don't like pipelines. That togetherness was desperately needed in the environmental movement, and I'm so happy to see that it has arrived in full force - 12,000+ strong.