Gearing up for the XL fight
In the wake of a State Department report that appears to clear way for the Obama administration to give final approval for the Keystone XL pipeline, activists are planning "XL Dissent"--protests planned for March 1-2 in Washington, D.C., that will bring together young environmental activists in solidarity with First Nations peoples and others against the pipeline.
The ecosocialist coalition supports XL Dissent and will be there to stand against the pipeline. In this statement, the group explains the importance of XL Dissent--and of fighting for a different world.
ON JANUARY 31, 2014, the State Department released its final environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline, which outrageously claimed that KXL won't worsen climate change. This clears another hurdle for the final approval of this disastrous project.
After the release of the environmental review, the State Department has opened up a 90-day period for other federal agencies to weigh in on the project, as well as for public comment. After this period, the State Department will issue a National Interest Determination--a yes or no on whether the pipeline should be built. President Obama ultimately has to make the final decision.
Activists are gearing up for a fight, and we aren't backing down. The movement has successfully delayed approval of the pipeline--but with all signs from the administration pointing toward approval, it's clear we need to ramp up our organizing. And this is exactly what is happening: #XLDissent, on Sunday, March 2 in Washington, D.C., will be one of the largest actions against the Keystone XL pipeline so far. People will be engaging in what might be the largest act of civil disobedience in American history. System Change Not Climate Change will be there, marching in an ecosocialist contingent alongside thousands of fellow climate activists, students and youth.
We demand not just rejection of this pipeline, but a shift from dirty energy such as the tar sands, fracking for natural gas and coal, to renewable energy such as wind and solar. We have no illusions that such a shift will occur on the initiative of President Obama; his interests lie with the ruling elite and energy companies. Instead, we look to the new generation of environmental activists who are eager to connect the fight to save the planet with the struggles against the school to prison pipeline, the oppression of indigenous peoples, mass incarceration, immigrant rights, racism and gender oppression, and even capitalism itself.
System Change Not Climate Change: The Ecosocialist Coalition believes that the ecological crisis results from the capitalist system, which values profits for a global ruling elite over people and the planet. It must therefore be confronted through an international mass movement of working people around the world, fighting for social and environmental justice. We must replace capitalism with ecosocialism: a democratic society that's based on fulfilling human needs and preserving earth's ecology.
