To meet the goals of the UN climate agreement to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5°- 2°C, we need to stop developing fossil fuels now. This means halting all new power plants, extraction projects, and pipelines. 350.org’s Keep It In The Ground campaign is targeting the worst fossil fuel projects around the world to delay fossil fuel development until we transition to a renewable energy economy.
There has been a wave of fossil fuel project cancellations since President Obama denied the Keystone XL pipeline permit last fall. We stopped a fossil fuel leasing auction from taking place in Washington, D.C. We spread the message that it was hypocritical for President Obama to be in Paris brokering an agreement while his administration was leasing public land in the U.S to the highest bidder. We’ve continued to work with allies to disrupt leases on public lands across the country, like occupying an auction in March in the New Orleans Superdome. President Obama halted plans for all offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean thanks to pressure from 350.org and our allies. We continue to fight the Trailbreaker, Energy East, Line 9, Alberta Clipper and Northern Gateway pipelines, and call for an end to extraction on public lands, including the leasing of drilling rights.
Over the last couple of months, we’ve been supporting the fight to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. We amplified messages, reshared content, and helped to get the climate movement involved. Currently, some of our team members are in North Dakota supporting the actions of frontline communities. Many of our team members have longstanding relationships with indigenous groups in the camp because of the many years we worked together on Keystone XL. We have been providing digital and communications support, and our team is amplifying the voices of frontline activists on the ground.
In September, we supported over 200 No Dakota Access Pipeline solidarity actions around the country. Our rally in Washington, D.C. featured Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, activists from Standing Rock, and celebrity friends Shailene Woodley and Susan Sarandon. The event had a massive turnout in less than 48 hours and generated press that centered on indigenous resistance. Bill McKibben amplified these actions and wrote pieces in consultation with folks on the ground to support the fight. After the actions were announced, three departments of the Obama administration released a letter that put a temporary hold on the final permit and laid out a process for better consultation with other government agencies for projects. Since the courts overruled the hold in favor of the pipeline’s construction, we’re organizing another day of action on November 15th targeting the offices of the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that can deny the final permit for the pipeline.
#NODPAL Solidarity Action in Washington, DC
Thanks to your support, 350.org will continue to stand with Standing Rock and support our indigenous allies. We will also continue to fight for a ban on offshore drilling, a memorandum to stop fossil fuel extraction on public lands, a rejection of the Kinder Morgan pipeline in Canada, and many other fights worldwide. We know that to defeat a pipeline and other fossil fuel infrastructure, it takes a movement of people from all corners of the nation. Together, we can keep fossil fuels in the ground. Every success makes it all the harder for the fossil fuel industry to continue business as usual. With your help and a little luck, we can slow them down just enough until renewable energy solutions make fossil fuel projects financially and politically unviable.