Grassroots organizations across the US and Canada are taking action from March 16th to March 23rd to demonstrate that TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is a toxic investment.
Over 30 actions and events are planned this week to directly confront the corporate profiteers bankrolling the Keystone XL pipeline and the broader tar sands industry. These actions come at a critical time as investor confidence in Alberta’s tar sands is waning due to major delays and resistance to Keystone XL’s construction timeline.
The Keystone XL project has become a flagship issue for the U.S. climate movement and has spurred dozens of acts of civil disobedience and the largest climate rally in U.S. history. But while 45,000 marched on the White House President Obama was golfing with oil executives and the southern segment of KXL in Texas and Oklahoma was still being built.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that we cannot rely on corporation-funded politicians to oppose corporate excess; we must engage this destructive industry directly. That’s what we’ve done in Texas, and it’s working: in February, TransCanada reported lower fourth-quarter earnings and admitted that the southern portion of Keystone XL (the Gulf Coast Project) was way behind schedule and only 45 percent completed. By showing up at their offices and putting a stop to “business as usual,” we can show tar sands investors that their lives would be easier and their businesses more secure if they invested in projects that don’t endanger our communities’ health and the chance for a livable climate.
We’ll be posting links and updates here throughout the Stop Tar Sands Profiteers Week of Action as actions happen!
Grassroots activists from over 50 organizations are uniting to send a strong message to the industry that TransCanada and its financial backers must rethink their investments in tar sands, the dirtiest fuel on the planet. We will demonstrate to companies bankrolling KXL that their investments are as toxic as the tar sands they want to pump through the pipeline. Activists are marching, holding rallies, giving trainings, and physically disrupting “business-as-usual” for those who seek to profit from the exploitation of marginalized people and the destruction of our collective future.
Some of the top tar sands profiteers facing protest this week: TD Bank, Valero Corp, CIBC World Market, and Tortoise Investment Management, to name a few.
Click here to find a planned action in your area! Here are just a few examples of actions around the country:
- White Plains, New York, March 20th – Action at Tortoise Investment Management, one of the biggest investors in Keystone XL.
- Ponca City, Oklahoma, March 21st – Mass Action to Stop Keystone XL Construction in Oklahoma. Action training camp hosted by Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance, March 18th-22nd.
- Washington, DC, March 21st – “Holy Days Climate Action” an interfaith civil disobedience at the White House. Followed by a rally at the Canadian Embassy hosted by DC Rising Tide.
- San Antonio, Texas, March 23rd – Community rally at Valero Corp Headquarters, one of KXL’s biggest investors. Hosted by Students United for Socioeconomic Justice Action, Southwest Workers Union, and Idle No More.
- Los Angeles, California, March 22nd – Rally at CIBC World Markets, one of TransCanada’s major investors.
- New York, New York, March 23rd – “Divest From TD Bank Day of Action!” hosted by Occupy the Pipeline, 350.org, and Sane Energy Project. There are events in TD Bank locations in at least six cities throughout the week.
- San Francisco, California, March 23rd – A big direct-action training and Idle No More round dance at the Federal Building with Bay Area 350.org and Rising Tide S.F.
