Keystone XL is a proposed tar sands pipeline that would connect Alberta, Canada with Gulf Coast refineries that would carry 800,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil across the United States to be refined, exported and burned.
Tar sands oil has a massive carbon footprint — sometimes requiring more energy to produce than it creates — and Keystone XL is the key to making burning that oil economically feasible.
The fight against Keystone XL has been powered by an unprecedented wave of grassroots actions, led by people from all walks of life, in every state in the United States — and beyond.
This map shows over 750 #noKXL actions, big and small, that have taken place to stop the pipeline since 2011. They range from impromptu events when President Obama is in town, to days of action with hundreds of participants, to tens of thousands of people gathering in Washington DC.
Mass action | Rally at Presidential event | Grassroots action
President Obama’s decision
Keystone XL requires a Presidential Permit to move forward, and the world is watching to see if President Obama will stand up to big oil and stop the pipeline, or continue down the path of climate catastrophe.
President Obama says that he will reject the pipeline if it poses a risk to the climate. That makes his decision simple: building a 800,000 barrel-per-day pipeline of the world’s dirtiest oil will mean more tar sands dug up and burned, and more carbon pollution.
Big oil is desperate to dig up and burn as much tar sands oil as they can. We’re taking on the tar sands across North America with grassroots-led campaigns targeting railways, refineries and pipelines new and old.
In New England we’re part of the Tar Sands Free New England campaign to keep Exxon from reversing a 50 year-old pipeline and running corrosive, toxic tar sands crude through it for export from Maine.
Next we’ll be ramping up local campaigns in the Midwest and West Coast as we steadily shut down all paths to expand the tar sands.
Key tar sands and Keystone XL reports