Victory: Keystone XL Pipeline Protest at White House

Last Sunday 12,000 demonstrators from all walks of life formed a human chain around the White House to call on President Obama to reject the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. Today, in a major victory for pipeline opponents the State Department ordered a new route, effectively killing the controversial project, according to a TransCanada spokesperson who told the National Journal it would die “because the new route would require a new Environmental Impact Statement and a public review that would take months, if not years.”

Demonstrators at the Lafayette Square rally and encircle the White House protest came from as far away as Nebraska and as close as the Occupy D.C. encampment at Freedom Plaza to hear leaders such as NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Director James E. Hansen, Natural Resources Defense Council Founding Director James E. Hansen and 350.org Founder Bill McKibben speak about the environmental consequences of building the pipeline.

Following the rally the demonstrators, some holding up a huge inflatable pipeline, many carrying anti-tar sands signs, gathered into sections and encircled the White House to send a powerful message to the Obama Administration that the days of dirty fossil fuels are ending and a new American economic foundation based on clean energy and green jobs is beginning.