MN activists call on Obama to stop Keystone XL pipeline

The Twin Cities Tar Sands Action group marched in downtown Minneapolis on Monday, Sept. 26, and called on President Obama to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would transport synthetic crude oil from the Tar Sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the Midwest, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. Native American leaders and local environmental activists — some of whom were arrested as part of Keystone Pipeline protests in front of the White House this summer — warned that the pipeline would destroy wetlands, continue to feed our addiction to global climate change-inducing fossil fuels, and hurt indigenous peoples’ lands.

The demonstrators marched from the Royal Bank of Canada in Minneapolis to the Canadian Consulate, where they sought to speak with consular officials about their grievances. Speakers included Clyde Bellecourt of the American Indian Movement, Marty Cobenais of the Indigenous Environmental Movement and Michael Noble of Fresh Energy. The rally was staged to coincide with a demonstration in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, where hundreds were arrested for opposing the Keystone pipeline.