President Barack Obama 1600 Pennsylvania AvenueWashington, DC 20500 Sept [], 2013 Cc: Secretary John Kerry Dear President Obama, We the undersigned delegates to the 2013 Womens Climate Summit are writing to urge you to reject the TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. We were inspired by your second inaugural address, when you promised that “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” We were further encouraged when you said, at Georgetown University on June 26, "Our national interest would be served only if this project (Keystone XL] does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution."This is a profound and important criterion for defining national interest, and we congratulate you for recognizing that US interests – like those of every country on earth – are served by tackling of climate change through the reduction of carbon emissions. We know that no single project causes or constrains climate change. But there is no single project in North America that is more significant than Keystone XL in terms of the carbon emissions it would unleash. As tar sands industry experts and government officials have observed, Keystone XL is crucial for increasing the size and profitability of the tar sands industry in Alberta. The amount of additional carbon that Keystone fuel would release is the equivalent of all the fuel saved by the new efficiency standards for heavy trucks. To offset just the additional emissions from KXL compared to conventional oil, Americans would have to drive 60 billion miles less per year for 50 years. In other words, many of the gains the US has made in reducing oil consumption and the leadership you have shown on climate would be reversed by approval of the pipeline. The Canadians among the undersigned can attest to the fact that the Government of Canada has no plan to mitigate these additional emissions. In fact Canada has abandoned its climate commitments, has left the Kyoto Agreement and will miss its target of 17% emissions reduction. A country cannot claim to reduce emissions by increasing them, as Canada plans to do with the tar sands of Alberta. In order to do its part to avoid catastrophic warming of over 2 degrees Celsius, Canada must stop its reckless expansion of the tar sands. Keystone XL will encourage such expansion by locking in at least 50 years of dependence on this dirty fuel. We know that it will be hard to stand up to pressures from the oil industry; that there will always be a reason why any given project is not the right place to take a stand. But if not now, when? A pipeline rejection would be the first occasion we are aware of when a head of state evaluates a long-term infrastructure project on the basis of its climate impact. This is the kind of leadership we long for, and we believe such leadership will unleash other similar decisions around the world. Climate change affects everyone and everything, but as women and as citizens of the US, Canada and many other countries, we know that the world’s most vulnerable are suffering and will continue to suffer for the failure to act on climate. As women who are already seeing the tragic impacts of climate change on families, on indigenous peoples, and on entire countries, we urge you to choose a better future by rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Yours sincerely,
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 05:07:07 +0000
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