CEO Russ Girling sits on the iron throne at TransCanada, the Canadian company behind the $5.3 billion KXL project. Like King Joffrey, he likes to to be in charge but when the going gets tough he expects his minions to do the dirty work. (The King’s Guard in this case threatens landowners with eminent domain, lies about jobs, and disregards climate science.). You know how the actor who plays Joeffrey is so good that you’d kind of worry for his safety if he wandered into the wrong place, like a Boston bar after 10 on a night when the Sox lost? Someone might think he really is the fink known as Joeffrey and take a swing. Well, Girling must have similar fears, especially when people find out that he’s willing to put profit ahead of the health of the planet. If that’s not the type of dastardly deed that Joeffrey might try to pull off I don’t know what is.

Tywin Lannister

Jack Gerard of the American Petroleum Institute and Tywin could be brothers separated at birth. Like Tywin, Jack’s not afraid to beg, borrow or steal to get his way. In fact Gerard and his crew over at API, according to The Nation, spent a whopping $68 million on lobbying in 2011. Tywin has that sort of scratch now that he controls the seven kingdoms, and I’m sure he’d feel right at home on K St. with the thugs in their three piece Brooks Brothers suits. Man I sure hope Gerard is nicer to his son than Tywin is to my main man Lord Tyrian. 

Cersei Lannister

This one’s easy. Alberta Premier Alison Redford is the clear choice. Like Cersei, she’s got a brother in arms that she’s a little too close to--in her case Stephen Harper--and she’s not afraid to splash the cash around to get her way. Redford just made her fourth lobbying trip to Washington to advocate for KXL, one of the most destructive projects on earth, all while she sings the praises of Alberta’s clean energy record. It reminds me of how Cersei defends Joffrey at all times, despite the fact that the dude’s favorite hobby is ordering beheadings like he’s ordering a Blooming Onion at the King’s Landing Outback Steakhouse. Get a grip, Cersei. 

House Stark

Eddard Stark

If Eddard Stark had a PhD and worked at NASA, he’d be Dr. James Hansen. It was Hansen who first sounded the alarm on Keystone, laying out the case that it would be “game over for the climate” if the pipeline was approved. Like Stark, who became the King’s Hand with much trepidation and fear, Hansen didn’t want to take on this fight but he was drawn into it out of a sense of duty. As you know, things didn’t end well for old Eddard, but there’s time left to win on Keystone. Winter may be coming, but it’s not here yet.

Jon Snow

President Obama and John Snow have almost too much in common. Both are conflicted men with smoldering eyes, and their destiny is theirs to make. John Snow has found himself up North fighting off the White Walkers, a clear metaphor for Exxon if there ever was one. (The want to destroy Westeros. Duh.) John Snow wants to do what’s right and has a true sense of duty, but he’s got some bad temptations (Egret) that could drag him down into the muck. Obama is much the same. He wants to do what’s right on climate, but his Egrets are filling his head with bad thoughts. What if the Republicans come after me for not being pro oil? What if gas prices spike and I get blamed? Get real, sir, the White Walkers are coming for you no matter what. Might as well man up, grab your sword and fight the good fight. Mr. President, the climate is your Wall. Defend it.  

Over the past month, activists have confronted Kerry and President Obama at nearly all of their public appearances, including an event last week that drew over 1,000 people in San Francisco to a rally outside of an Obama fundraiser. This is the first time a US politician has been met with an anti-Keystone protest on foreign soil. The activists were joined by representatives of Texas and Gulf Coast communities opposed to the pipeline.

Bryan Parras, a resident of Houston, Texas and environmental justice advocate with TEJAS (Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services), who joined the UK campaigners at the protest said:

"The KXL Pipeline is set to deliver a toxic slurry of dirty oil to communities across the US. If exported to the UK, it could soon start poisoning these shores too. As we have seen from all the pipeline spills in the last two weeks, the delivery of tar sands is too risky and too costly for the communities in harm's way. Keep the oil in the soil, and just say no to the KXL tar sands pipeline."

President Obama is expected to make his decision on the pipeline in the autumn. Keystone XL has become a flashpoint in the climate fight. Thousands have been arrested over the pipeline, and on Feb 13 over 40,000 people came to the White House to tell Obama to reject the pipeline.

The pipeline is intended for export, and UK campaigners are concerned that, if it's approved, imports of tar sands oil into Europe will increase. There is currently a battle raging in Europe over the issue of future tar sands imports.  The European Union is trying to pass a piece of legislation to reduce emissions from transport fuels. Known as the Fuel Quality Directive, it would strongly discourage tar sands imports, but lobbying by the Canadian government and the oil industry has seriously delayed it. A vote is now expected in October 2013, and if passed, the case for the Keystone XL pipeline would be seriously weakened.

Ruthi Brandt from the UK Tar Sands Network said: “People in London are here today to stand with those resisting tar sands expansion in Alberta and pipelines in the US. The Keystone XL will affect us too, because the pipeline is intended for export. The reality of tar sands oil coming to the UK is not far off, with a refinery in Pembrokeshire lined up by Valero to bring imports of tar sands from the Gulf of Mexico. So we're here to let John Kerry know that we don't want this dirty oil. In the EU we are pushing for legislation to make sure that tar sands imports are strongly discouraged due to their high emissions. We hope other countries will follow suit. We need to leave the tar sands in the ground, and make the transition to sustainable transport fuels that don't devastate local communities and cost the Earth.”

The protest was organised and supported by:

350.org, Campaign Against Climate Change, Climate Rush, The Climate and Health Council, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Healthy Planet UK, Occupy London: Energy, Equity and Environment group, Push Europe, Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth, People & Planet, TEJAS (Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services), UK Tar Sands Network, UKYCC, World Development Movement.

For more information, quotes and photographs, contact:

In the UK, Nicolò Wojewoda, [email protected], +44 (0) 758 264 2004

In the US, Daniel Kessler, [email protected], +1 510-501-1779

Photo credit: David Hoffman

We're working with allies across the movement to submit 1 million comments to the State Department to stop Keystone XL -- click here to add yours: act.350.org/letter/a_million_strong_against_keystone/

After speaking, the group talked about 350.org's university divestment campaign, and strategic connections were made between local university boosters and student-activists.

Then we climbed uphill in the now-light rain, and mailed approximately 30 postcards to Senator Bill Nelson's Washington office.

There are many more coming.

RUN 350 is Southeast Asia's premier eco-run that will take place in Singapore to support the global 350 movement organized by Young NTUC to promote the 350 movement and inspire positive change. The event will kick off this Sunday, April 7, 2013 at The Float@Marina Bay and is expected to draw 15,000 runners who will run 21km, 10km and 350m.

This year's 350 RUN will be lead by Lincoln Han. By his own admission, Mr Han is an average guy with average hobbies and an average job as a freelance market research analyst. But the average person can do a lot to save the planet, he said, such as recycling and taking public transport when possible.

Dutch students launch divestment campaign

Koolstofbubbel. That’s how you say “carbon bubble” in Dutch. Last week, students from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, together with the non-profit organization Urgenda, launched their national divestment campaign. De Volkskrant, the third biggest daily newspaper in The Netherlands, covered the story with a title that roughly translates as “The carbon bubble looms”.

In a letter to their university board, students demanded a freeze on oil, gas, and coal investments – mostly through shares and pension funds the university has control of. The logic behind the call for divestment is the familiar one from Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article, one that we hope to see more in European media, in the next few months.

Princess Attia, from student union SRVU, put it quite succinctly: "In the eighties, we set up a similar action against apartheid. [...] Climate change is the new apartheid."

We’re excited to hear about the campaign launch and we look forward to working with more university students across the region, to bring divestment efforts to Europe on a large scale. Let’s burst that koolstofbubbel!

Photo credits: Urgenda and @WijZijnMorgen

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If you're on Facebook, please SHARE this image to thank him for his work. 

And then submit a comment to stop Keystone XL in his honor. 

Click here to submit your comment: act.350.org/letter/a_million_strong_against_keystone/

Sending a message to the State Department might not seem like much, but I think it’s actually quite fitting tribute.

One reason we’re fighting the pipeline is because Jim Hansen did the math to show that if we combusted the tar sands on top of all else we burn, it would be “game over for the climate.” So far that message hasn’t gotten through: the State Department hired a bunch of compromised oil industry analysts to ‘review’ KXL, and unsurprisingly they decided it would have ‘minimal’ environmental impact. We need to get them to take reality seriously, and change that assessment.

Maybe -- just maybe -- with a truly overwhelming flood of comments, we can break through. Together with our friends across the movement, we’re aiming for an ambitious target of 1 million comments to the State Department to stop the pipeline.

Beginning this comment push is all the more timely after the disasterous tar sands pipeline spill in Arkansas, where thousands of gallons of toxic oil ran freely through the streets of a suburban community.

Jim Hansen has been to jail twice to try and block KXL. When I saw him in handcuffs, I cringed. I don’t mind going myself, but it seems crazy that we have to send our best climate scientist off in handcuffs; in a sane world he’d never have to leave the lab. And in a sane world we’d just be toasting his retirement from NASA with well-deserved champagne.

But it’s a crazy world, heating fast, and so we need to mark this historic day in a way that really counts.

Thanks,

Bill McKibben

P.S. - This article about Jim's work in the New York Times is supurb -- please take a moment to read and share: nytimes.com/2013/04/02/science/james-e-hansen-retiring-from-nasa-to-fight-global-warming.html

RE-volv, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, offers an exciting new way we can reduce carbon and build the clean energy future we want as part of a collaborative effort. RE-volv has started a revolving fund, called the Solar Seed Fund, to finance solar energy projects for community-serving organizations. The revenues earned from one solar project go to pay for the next one, allowing the fund to continuously grow over time. The money to finance the projects is raised through crowdfunding, so we all can be a part of solving the climate crisis and building renewable energy in our communities.

This week RE-volv announced the signing of its first solar lease agreement with the nonprofit Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley, CA. RE-volv will finance the solar installation using money raised from a recent and highly successful crowdfunding campaign. The nonprofit SunWork Renewable Energy Projects will install a 10kW solar energy system that will cover nearly 100% of Shawl-Anderson’s electricity usage. Shawl-Anderson will make no upfront investment, will save thousands of dollars on their electric bill over the course of the 20-year lease, and will own the system at the end of the lease. On top of that, the lease payments, when invested through the Solar Seed Fund, will finance an additional three community-based solar energy systems during the lease term.

Through crowdfunding, anyone can contribute to the Solar Seed Fund and be a part of this community effort to create a clean energy powered world. Together, we’ll serve numerous community-based organizations with solar energy, reduce their carbon footprints, save them money on their electric bills, and educate their community members about solar. We’ll be setting into motion a revolving solar fund that grows on its own for the purpose of serving countless communities with solar.

RE-volv is now looking for the next community organization to partner with for its second solar project. You can help RE-volv in its efforts by donating to the Solar Seed Fund, joining our mailing list, helping to spread the word about us on Facebook, and volunteering. To learn more, visit www.re-volv.org or feel free to get in touch with our staff.