Thousands March In The Midwest’s Largest-Ever Anti-Tar Sands Rally
Thousands gathered in St. Paul, Minnesota Saturday afternoon to march in protest of the growing network of tar sands pipelines in America, singling out one pipeline — the Alberta Clipper — in particular.
Activists from across the Midwest were joined by environmental leaders such as 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, Sierra Club President Aaron Mair, and Indigenous Environmental Network Director Tom Goldtooth in protesting tar sands, an unconventional and carbon-intensive fuel that’s found largely in the Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada. About 5,000 people attended the march, according to the Sierra Club’s Mark Westlund — making it the largest anti-tar sands march the Midwest has ever seen.
The main goal of the protest was to emphasize that the conversation about tar sands and fossil fuels was about more than just the Keystone XL pipeline, McKibben said on a press call in the leadup to the march.
“It’s gone way way way beyond Keystone,” he said. “That one got the attention…but the beautiful result has been the ‘Keystonization’ of pretty much every pipeline company across the country.”
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“Today’s march and rally are sending a clear message to the president and his administration: this nation doesn’t want or need dirty fuels from Canada’s tar sands,” he said in a statement. “If we’re going to keep our air and water clean, cut climate pollution, and protect Tribal and farming communities here and in Canada, we must ultimately keep tar sands oil in the ground. The president cannot ignore us because the movement demanding clean energy solutions to the climate crisis is growing stronger and more diverse.”
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http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/06/3666931/tar-sands-midwest-rally/
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Blessing the Tar Sands Resistance March in St. Paul, Minnesota #ej #tarsands #EnvironmentalJustice @HighTechAztec
