Thousands march in D.C. to protest Keystone pipeline

Thousands of environmental activists marched in Washington Sunday to protest plans for the Keystone XL pipeline.

Organizers of "Forward on Climate," who planned the event, told Reuters that about 35,000 people from 30 different states braved the cold to join what they said was the biggest rally calling attention to climate change in U.S. history.

If it gets government approval, the Keystone pipeline would carry oil from Canada to refineries in Texas.

• Watch: Daryl Hannah prods Obama on Keystone XL
• Keystone XL plans irk Texas landowners
• TransCanada reapplies for Keystone XL with altered route

Supporters say the pipeline could create 20,000 jobs, but opponents say the environmental risk is too great.

Protesters urged President Obama to halt the pipeline plans to honor his inaugural pledge to act on climate change.

Some famous protesters on hand included actresses Rosario Dawnson and Evangeline Lilly, as well as hedge fund manager and environmentalist Tom Steyer.

[KennethHargett]

I can't believe that CBS News are still saying this pipeline will create 20,000 jobs!!! A report made by the State Department says that the pipeline would create no more than 4000 temporary jobs and 20 permanent jobs. According to a report made by Cornell University Global Labor Institute the pipeline will create a job deficit, because of higher fuels prices in the US Midwest and the delay of thousands renewable energy jobs. Prices for tar sands oil is currently low in the US, because the US market is saturated with tar sands oil. Once the pipeline is completed, it will reach tax free export refineries in Texas and the oil will be exported to foreign countries, primarily China. Canada oil to China through tax free refining zones - How does that help America?

[nygurl1]

If what I'm seeing here is only confined to these boards we can safely ignore most of you!

Keystone is NOT going to help anyone but texass!

They will refine it and send it to CHINA! TRUTH!

But building that thing will destroy the land around it from the construction destruction and the leaks and spills that always happen!

It will destroy aquifers when this country is already running out of water!

Anyone who thinks this is a good thing needs to have his head examined, for believing the lies the oil people, mostly reps, are shoving down your throats!

[highlndr55]

I wonder how many of those protesting nut jobs got to D.C. in totally electric vehicle. Let see, 100 miles per charge and 8 hrs to charge it would take about 30 days to get there from the Left Coast. I bet most got there by some sort of transportation that used EVIL OIL to produce it's energy. Such HYPOCRITS. By the way average cost of a gal of gas on the LEFT COAST - $5.00 You voted for him, you got him, OBAMA! Unfortunately, so did the rest of the Country.

[thechooch1]

highlndr55 quite the rant! So you can only complain about the cost of energy and the Canadian's pipeline if you drive an electric vehicle? BTW, your President doesn't control the price of gasoline.

[ownedbyoil]

Building the pipeline will increase gas prices in the US by providing a means to refine and export gasoline to China. In any case, the availability of electric vehicles to US consumers is directly inverse to the number of republicans in US government. So blaming these good folk for not using the very difficult to access evs is like blaming hostages for being taken captive.

We're all energy hostages for the fossil fuel companies my friend. And until we can start transitioning to other energy sources or methods of transport, that will be the case.

[jgg000010]

"environmental activists"??? This is a union demonstration.
The SEIU and AFLA-CIO are up to their necks in this. Look at those freaken printed signs with the redesigned "obama" logo and the word "Forward", obama's campaign theme, across the top. Who do you think printed those signs up?

[AnAmericanRelic]

These people are so associated with Team O, I thought the signs WERE Team O logos!

[AnAmericanRelic]

How did these people get to and from this event, from 30 different states? I hope they all walked. If not, then they are just like all the other "clean energy, global warming" puppets (aka hypocrites). They need to use their brains and actually STOP consuming the "bad energy" while come up with solutions instead of protests. Then I'll give them due respect. Until then, I refuse to give credence to their hate and anger.

No, we can't keep running on oil alone, but if all these alternative energy companies keep going bankrupt, then maybe we need better management (including in Government) to get truly viable options into operation. The comment about "oil clothes" is so true, comparable to the poor "Occupy ..." puppets who contributed millions, if not more, to the "evil rich" they were crying about by buying the clothing, camping gear, etc. in order to build their little cities. Not to mention all the oil those products consumed, nor the hazardous filth they left behind.

Oh crap, gotta run - I just dropped a CFL bulb and need to evacuate my house! Can someone please call a HazMat team?

[AnAmericanRelic]

Forgot to mention - I wonder how much of the clothing, camping gear, etc. were from outsourced jobs?

I am thankful that I don't think like these people because if I did, I'd be like them.

[AnAmericanRelic]

Outback - sorry I missed this. I have been using CFLs for more than 10 years. Only 2 bulbs in my house are not CFL. I was using hyperbole to illustrate the often screwy results of scientific progress. We work on one problem and create more hazardous ones.

But while I'm here ... We should be doing more work into making super-conducting materials that work at "room temperature" a reality so that we can power our homes with a few large batteries instead of wasting taxpayer funds on repeating known methods of proven failure.

[OweninNJ]

"'Forward' on Climate". Hmmm...'forward'...where have we seen that used before?

[truth2141]

So one side is trying to convince the ruling class to allow the pipeline while the other is trying to lobby to block it.

Whats wrong with this picture? Why is the building of a pipeline a political event? Does the pipe line conform to EPA and state regulations yes or no?

If yes then its between the pipeline owners and the property owners.

The problem is that the EPA regulations are vast and vague thus allowing the executive branch king like control.

Congress should act to limit he EPA power to specific regulations, easily understood, that can be uniformly enforced.

[KennethHargett]

We are talking about tar sands bitumen, not crude oil. The tars sands oil pipelines are built to live up to the quality standards and regulations for conventional crude oil pipelines, because there are no quality standards and regulations for tar sands oil pipelines. This is completely ludicrous, because there is no comparison as can be seen through the facts below

1. Bitumen is so thick that it cannot flow as a liquid, so it has to be diluted with other chemicals in order to force it through a pipeline - even a 3 foot pipeline such as the Keystone pipeline.
2. The diluted bitumen, also called DilBit, is still 40 times thicker than conventional crude oil.
3. In order to flow through a 3 foot diameter pipeline, the DilBit has to be pumped at very high pressure (1440 psi) and high temperature (158 F). This is compared to 600 psi and ambient temperatures for crude oil pipelines.
4. Just for comparison, 1080 psi will sink an American Seawolf Class nuclear submarine. Think of what 1440 psi is doing to the pipeline - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
5. DilBit is also much more corrosive than conventional crude oil. DilBit contains 15 to 20 times higher acid concentrations than conventional crudes.
6. DilBit also contains 5 to 10 times more sulfur as conventional crudes. This can lead to increased weakening and embrittlement of pipelines.
7. Higher temperatures thin the DilBit and increase its speed through the pipeline, but they also increase the speed at which acids and other chemicals corrode the pipeline.
8. Internal corrosion has caused more than sixteen times as many spills in the Alberta tar sands pipeline systems as for U.S. conventional pipeline systems.

Statistics and physical characteristics clearly show that the risks are real and eminent if we do nothing.

[indvfreedomliberal]

Take a look at this map of US oil and gas pipelines, then tell me again why this pipeline get's all the attention and whining and gnashing of the teeth???



http://theneweditor.com/uploads/MapofUSpipelines.jpg

[indvfreedomliberal]

So you don't know either? If we don't allow it then they will simple find another buyer like China and we will lose out on any control of the oil. China etc... wins USA loses, brilliant only a Marxist liberal could think so clearly.

[KennethHargett]

We are talking about tar sands bitumen, not crude oil. The tars sands oil pipelines are built to live up to the quality standards and regulations for conventional crude oil pipelines, because there are no quality standards and regulations for tar sands oil pipelines. This is completely ludicrous, because there is no comparison between the two. See my comment to Truth2141 above for the characteristics of tar sands bitumen.

James Edward Hansen, our top global climate scientist and the head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says that it is "game over for the planet" if we continue expansion of the tar sands development in Alberta. He got arrested in peaceful protest against this pipeline in front of the White House last Wednesday.

[indvfreedomliberal]

slow_news says: I protest the tax exemptions the government plans for the gas produced by the pipeline.

We already prop up the private oil industry with taxpayer dollars.
-------------------------------------------------------

Ohhh you poor thing gee how much was that since their "net" taxes are always in the plus column, not like Obama energy like the latest failure that cost us $140 Million and didn't produce a single widgit.

[indvfreedomliberal]

Hey slow you are all worried about a whole $2 billion/year what about the $90 billion green energy subsidies?

[indvfreedomliberal]

"It was really, really cold the whole time. I was surprised that everyone we ran into was wearing oil-based clothing. I figured a couple people would try to symbolically wear "natural fibers," I didn't see any. When I pointed out to people that their clothes were made of oil, they blamed "the system."
...
For "the biggest climate rally in history," attendance was remarkably sparse. Those of us in the Light Brigade guessed 5,000. We were heartened by the lack of real enthusiasm by the protesters. The Light Brigade, as our videos will show, had real passion-we love energy with conviction, while they hate it with confusion.



"Forward on climate" was personified by the shivering, emotionally muted, and fairly sparse crowd leaving early in their oil clothing to get to their coal and gas homes.
The lesson of the protest was clear: Nature, untamed by fossil fuels and other affordable, reliable energy is an often uncomfortable and dangerous place to be. That's why the protesters left as early as they could, and why the whole production was ridiculous. Who wants to stand outside in the middle of February, freezing to "send a message" about "global warming"? Resolve faded to the point where by the 4:00 closing time, I could shoot footage right next to the stage with no one within 20 feet of me."

[indvfreedomliberal]

I wonder if they had set one of those overhead lightpole type propane radiant heaters how many of the faithful would have been huddled around it. The photo would be priceless...