The Tar Sands Action entered its second week with the biggest day of arrests so far. NASA scientist and climate expert Dr. James Hansen was one of those arrested today at the White House:
President Obama must decide whether or not to grant a “presidential permit” for Canadian company TransCanada to begin construction of the Keystone XL, a 1,700-mile pipeline from the Canadian tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.“If Obama chooses the dirty needle it will confirm that the President was just green-washing all along, like the other well-oiled coal-fired politicians, with no real intention of solving the addiction,” said Hansen.
Recently, Hansen told an interviewer that approval of Keystone XL would lead to more exploitation of tar sands oil, which would mean “it is essentially game over” for the climate.