Al Gore Urges ‘No’ Senate Vote on Pipeline

Former Vice President and environmental crusader Al Gore has joined a crusade against the Keystone XL pipeline that supporters say is crucial to meeting the energy needs of America.

The U.S. State Department announced in January that the administration rejected granting a permit for the pipeline. But supporters want to bring the project up for a vote in the Senate in the coming days.

In an email sent to potential opponents of the pipeline on Monday, Gore, founder and chairman of The Climate Reality Project, said: “In the next few days, the U.S. Senate will vote to determine the fate of a pipeline that would link a vast tar sands deposit in Alberta, Canada to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

“The construction of the pipeline has been blocked once by President Obama, who refused to buckle to pressure from Congress and industry to cut short the environmental review. Unfortunately, they are at it again.

“If approved and built, this pipeline, Keystone XL, would carry one of the most carbon-intensive sources of oil on the planet.

“For the next 24 hours, The Climate Reality Project is joining with 350.org, MoveOn, League of Conservation Voters, Patagonia, Sierra Club, Energy Action Coalition and others to garner 500,000 signatures in a community-wide effort against the pipeline.

“We've come together before to stop production of this dangerous pollutant — and with your help, we can do it again.

“Join me in telling the U.S. Senate to say NO to one of the most carbon-intensive oils on the planet.”

Gore asks recipients to sign a petition urging the Senate to reject the Keystone project: “Take a minute and sign this important petition and tell the Senate to say NO to Keystone XL.

“It doesn't matter where you live, or if the pipeline crosses into your home state. An increase of carbon pollution anywhere leads to climate change everywhere.”

Supporters of the pipeline say it would help the United States become less dependent on oil from the Middle East, and warn that if the United States doesn’t approve its construction, Canada will ultimately sell the oil to China.