Rubber Stamp Approval of Keystone XL

Dear Indiana,

Our allies at Friends of the Earth are working on an urgent campaign to stop the approval of the southern part of the Keystone XL pipeline. I've included an important message from them below and would like to encourage you to take action with them.

We think it's really important to stop destructive dirty energy projects that could threaten our water.

Please take action with Friends of the Earth to help stop the rubber-stamp approval of the Keystone XL pipeline through Oklahoma and Texas.


Sincerely,

Wenonah Hauter
Executive Director
Food & Water Watch

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Tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson: Prevent the rubber-stamping of the Keystone XL pipeline through Oklahoma and Texas.

Dear Friend,

In less than 45 days, Canadian oil giant TransCanada could receive the rubber stamp it wants to build the southern leg of the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline from Oklahoma through Texas to the Gulf Coast -- unless we convince the Environmental Protection Agency to intervene.

You may recall that, after seeing its pet project initially stopped by your activism, TransCanada finagled a fast-tracked review process by splitting its tar sands oil pipeline into northern and southern halves.

News broke last week that, in addition to submitting its re-application to the State Department for the transboundary, northern half of its pipeline, TransCanada has submitted its application for the only federal permit it needs to start building the southern half -- a water permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

To further evade meaningful review, TransCanada has applied for a catch-all water permit, which would allow it to receive approval for all 101 water crossings in one fell swoop -- without any public input, scientific review or accountability.

The EPA regional office already objected to this fast-tracked approval process -- and pressure from you will help convince EPA headquarters to stop it. Tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to prevent the rubber-stamping of the Keystone XL pipeline through Oklahoma and Texas.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which has an abysmal environmental track record, has a maximum of 45 days to approve or reject TransCanada’s application. Or, if they do nothing it will be approved by default.

This rubber-stamp process is inexcusable. It's an insult to residents of Texas and Oklahoma fighting to protect their water, air and land, and to all of us fighting to protect our shared climate from more tar sands oil pollution.

The southern leg of Keystone XL is the crucial link that would enable the tar sands industry to get its climate-wrecking oil to the Gulf Coast for export to international markets.

The EPA’s regional office said last fall that a fast-tracked, all-in-one water permit process is inappropriate -- noting that the pipeline poses an immediate threat to water and wetlands in Oklahoma and Texas.

A tar sands oil spill could devastate major rivers in Oklahoma and Texas and contaminate aquifers like the Carrizo-Wilcox, which provides drinking water to more than 10 million Texans. Tars sands oil pipelines carry especially toxic sludge that’s heavier and more corrosive than conventional crude, leading to more spills that are harder to clean up.

We’ve got fewer than 45 days to halt the southern segment of Keystone XL. Please urge EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to stand up for the public’s right to have a say over a pipeline that would threaten our water, air and shared climate. Tell her to halt a rubber-stamp approval by the Army Corps of Engineers.

With its southern and northern permit applications in, it's clear, now more than ever, that TransCanada's doing all it can to bypass a transparent, thorough review process to get its dirty and dangerous pipeline approved as soon as it can.  We're going to continue to watchdog the northern segment process, to ensure that the conflict of interest-ridden contractor Cardno Entrix is dropped from the review process and that the State Department starts from scratch with a new impacts study.  

With the clock winding down the 45 days on the southern segment's approval, we need the EPA to formally intervene and request a full, thorough review of the southern segment of Keystone XL.

Please take action now and, with your help, we’ll continue to stand by people in the path of this dangerous pipeline and fight the expansion of the dirty tar sands industry every step of the way.

Tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to ensure a full, thorough review for the Keystone XL southern segment -- no rubber stamp for Big Oil.

For a clean-energy-fueled future,

Kim Huynh
Tar sands campaigner
Friends of the Earth

Sent by Food & Water Watch, 1616 P Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 683-2500
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