The Canadian Press reports this hour that, “…Dozens of protesters were arrested Saturday as they participated in a protest outside the White House aimed at pressuring him to put the brakes to TransCanada’s controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Bill McKibben, a leading environmentalist and one of the organizers of the two-week protest, was among those arrested. …As the protesters shouted ‘hey-ho, Keystone XL has got to go,’ U.S. Park Police and SWAT team officers handcuffed protesters and removed them from the area one after the other. As many as 2,000 people are expected to participate in the protest that began Saturday and will continue until Sept. 3 with daily sit-ins outside the White House.”
The article highlights, “They’re staging the protest as the U.S. State Department is poised to release its final environmental assessment of TransCanada’s US$7 billion project. That report is expected within days, and Obama will then have 90 days to decide whether granting the Calgary-based oil giant a pipeline permit is in the U.S. national interest. The Obama administration says it will make a decision on the pipeline by the end of the year.”
CTV adds, “Jane Kleeb, a member of Tar Sands Action, said the mass sit-ins are necessary to pressure Obama into squashing the $7-billion proposal. ‘The pipeline is a dangerous threat to our land and water,’ she told CTV News Channel in a phone interview from Washington on Saturday.”
POLL: In relation to this demonstration, CBC.ca is asking, “Are you in favour of an oil sands pipeline?” With 147 votes at this point, 74.83 percent have voted ‘no’. To cast your vote, go to http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2011/08/are-you-in-favour-of-the-oilsands-pipeline.html.
