What can “Anybody” tell Obama about the Keystone XL?

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David Suzuki said there is a systematic attack
on science and democracy taking place in Canada, and the Harper government isn’t even trying to hide it. But scientists cannot and will not be silenced, not when we are facing an irreversible climate catastrophe like the tar sands

Silencing Scientists
“There was trouble of this kind here in the George W. Bush years, when scientists were asked to toe the party line on climate policy and endangered species. But nothing came close to what is being done in Canada… This is more than an attack on academic freedom. It is an attempt to guarantee public ignorance.

It is also designed to make sure that nothing gets in the way of the northern resource rush — the feverish effort to mine the earth and the ocean with little regard for environmental consequences. The Harper policy seems designed to make sure that the tar sands project proceeds quietly, with no surprises, no bad news, no alarms from government scientists. To all the other kinds of pollution the tar sands will yield, we must now add another: the degradation of vital streams of research and information.” New York Times Editorial by Verlyn Klinkenborg

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“If the Keystone XL is built, the State Department says it could spill more than 100 times.”

“U.S. consumers are not likely to see any reduction in pump prices; after all, the whole reason for building the Keystone XL is to raise the price that producers get paid.” 24/7 Wall Street

“Oil-sands developers are counting on Keystone XL to lift heavy crude prices by connecting them to the world’s largest refining market in the Gulf Coast as they double production by 2025.” Pipeline rejection could set precedent

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But if you approve the Keystone XL saying it does not ‘exacerbate carbon pollution’ then…

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Email President Obama

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Cc: James Gang <james@verbotomy.com>, Andrew James <bill@jamesgang.com>, Franke James <franke@frankejames.com>

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Visual Essay Credits

“What could Anybody tell President Obama about the Keystone XL?” © 2013 Franke James; All writing, photography and illustration by Franke James (with exceptions and details here). Photos of the bus shelters in Washington, DC by Logan Mock-Bunting.

Special thanks to my Indiegogo ‘Banned on the Hill’ supporters, the NRDC, Sierra Club and National Wildlife for their support of my Oh No Canada! art show in Washington, DC.

Key Sources

Dirty truth screen: “Canada is the Dirty Old Man” Bus shelter poster by Franke James. Guardian UK Dirty Old Man quote. Photo of shelter and people by Logan Mock-Bunting. Oh No Canada! art show in Washington, DC.

Statistic: Producing Tar Sands Oil is up to 350% dirtier than conventional oil.
FAIL: How the Keystone XL Tar Sands PipeLine Flunks the Climate Test
Page 6: “extracting and upgrading oil from tar sands can be as much as 4.5 times more greenhouse-gas-intensive than oil from other conventional north american crude sources.”

Stockman, Lorne. “Petroleum coke: The Coal Hiding in the tar sands.” Oil Change International. January 2013.
Page 3: “It is a well established fact that full exploitation of the tar sands is a grave threat to the climate. Emissions from tar sands extraction and upgrading are between 3.2 and 4.5 times higher than the equivalent emissions from conventional oil produced in north america.”

Oh No Canada! show in Washington, D.C.

See the Oh No Canada! show in Washington, D.C. which ran from October to December 2013 thanks to Indiegogo ‘Banned on the Hill’ supporters, the NRDC, Sierra Club and National Wildlife.

Click individual image to enlarge