XL Pipeline Decision at Critical Junction

Last week the Nebraska Supreme Court cleared the way for the XL pipeline to cross that state. On January 12th the U.S. Senate advanced a Keystone XL pipeline bill, while the House passed its version of a pipeline bill just a few days earlier.

On January 13th, a member of Stanford for a Fossil Free Future, spoke to a crowd that started out in Palo Alto's downtown Lytton Plaza and spilled over into the adjacent intersection. He explained that Nebraska's highest court tossed a lawsuit last week challenging a proposed route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

He further said that if the tar sands are extracted it will be "game over" for the climate. The Raging Grannies added their voice to his message in song. They said that the executive branch, not the legislature, has authority over the pipeline decision. Together they called on President Obama to reject the 1,179-mile pipeline, which would carry heavy crude from the oil sands mines of Alberta, Canada to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The vigil in Palo Alto was part of a nationwide action organized by 350.org.