Starting this weekend people from across the country will gather in Washington D.C. to oppose the Keystone XL, a 1,700 mile pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. The protest will continue for two weeks.

BILL MCKIBBEN, bill.mckibben at gmail.com, http://www.tarsandaction.org
McKibben is the author of a dozen books on the environment, a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, and founder of 350.org. He said today: “There’s a reason this looks like it will be the largest civil disobedience protest in the history of north American environmentalism: the pipeline is a climate-killing disaster, and president Obama can stop it all by himself, with the stroke of a pen. We will be outside the White House hoping we can inspire the president to live up to the promises that so inspired us in his 2008 campaign. And without Congress in the way, this is the clearest test he’ll ever have.”

JANE KLEEB, jane at boldnebraska.org
Kleeb is the director of Bold Nebraska. She said today: “Nebraskans are counting on President Obama to do the right thing. Back home we are fighting to protect our land and water. We decided to bring that fight to the President’s doorstep because our families’ legacies, those that homesteaded the very land now threatened by a foreign oil company, are too important for us sit on the sidelines. We are acting on our values and expect our President to act as well.”