US President Obama today denied Canadian oil company TransCanada permission to construct the Keystone XL pipeline.
The controversial pipeline would have bisected the United States carrying the world’s dirtiest oil from Canada’s tar sands.
The president cited the pipeline’s projected contribution to climate change in deeming it not in the national interest. The decision comes just weeks ahead of global climate talks in Paris.
Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica issued the following statement: “This is an extraordinary moment for grassroots activism and the fight against fossil fuels. For seven years, people from around the United States campaigned together to transform a previously routine decision to approve a pipeline into a leadership test on climate change. With this decision, President Obama has taken leadership in significantly slowing the expansion of the tar sands industry. The battle to move beyond fossil fuels continues.”
Friends of the Earth Europe extractives campaigner Colin Roche said: ‘‘Obama’s decision should show European leaders that they too can reject climate-killing tar sands. Europe’s door is still open to tar sands. It’s time for the EU to stand up to oil interests and get behind a clean energy transformation.”
