Protest turns up heat on Keystone tar sands pipeline at Obama dinner

The protest even includied a brass band (youtube video), to provide a festival atmosphere.

President Obama was attending a Democratic party fundraising dinner function at the Getty Mansion, home of Ann and Gordon Getty. Earlier he attended a $5000 per person fundraising cocktail reception put on by billionaire Tom Steyer, where he said "Despite a very aggressive agenda on the other side to block action, we've been able to double fuel-efficiency standards on cars, we've been able to take mercury out of our air, we have been able to reduce carbon emissions in this country," according to a Reuters report. Although he never mentioned the Kestone pipeline, he repeatedly mentioned the need to address climate change, "We've got more work to do in terms of dealing with climate change and making sure that we've got an economy that is energy-efficient," Obama said.

This last week there were two substantial oil spills associated with the tar sands: a train derailment in Minnesota spilled 15,000 gallons of tar sands oil, and in Mayflower, Arkansas there was a major ExxonMobil pipeline leak in a residential community requiring 22 homes to be evacuated. See Tar Sands Blockade Reports: Dispatches From Exxon's Spill Zone | Massive Spill from Train Derailment in MN Confirmed as Carrying Toxic Tar Sands.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Ross Hammond took his two sons to the protest in Pacific heights. He described in a statement before the protest his dis-satisfaction with the State Department review of the Keystone pipeline, "The State Department's handling of the environmental review process for the pipeline has been severely corrupted by the undue influence of TransCanada and the oil companies who stand to win big from this boondoggle. The president alone has the power to kill this destructive pipeline once and for all. We need him to stand up for our kids and the climate instead of giving another gift to the oil industry."

One of the organisers of the protest, Becky Bond the Political Director of CREDO Action, said "The American people want President Obama to stand on the right side of history and take the real action he promised on climate change by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline, The only oil Americans will ever see from the pipeline that benefits foreign oil companies is the dirty tar sands crude that spills from it. Over 1,000 Obama volunteers, voters and donors turned out in San Francisco to remind our president that his legacy will be judged harshly if he approves Keystone XL. And we have over 50,000 more Americans from every state of the union willing to risk arrest in peaceful civil disobedience to stop him making the most catastrophic decision of his presidency."

Credo Action have an online Keystone XL Pledge of Resistance for people to take non-violent civil disobedience if Keystone is approved by Obama. Over 53,000 people have so far made this pleadge.

Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director, released the following statement:

"Americans understand the connection between the president's decision on Keystone and the safety of our homes, our drinking water, and the health of our children. The Arkansas tar sands disaster demonstrates that our backyards are threatened by the very presence of dirty, dangerous crude oil pipelines. Americans are showing up by the thousands to tell the president in person: you must be bold on climate; you must reject Keystone XL."

Sources:

• Image of No Keystone pipeline crowd outside the Getty Mansion, Sanfransisco - Photo by Credo Action. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)