Cowboys and Indians March on US Capital
Cowboys and Indians from the USA & Canada have joined together and formed an alliance to protest against construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The protesters rode into the capitol on horseback wearing native headdresses and cowboy hats and set up an tepee encampment at the National Mall.
The Cowboy and Indian Alliance, core group consists mainly of a coalition of farmers, ranchers and Native American leaders that are taking part in a multi-day “Reject and Protect” protest that started on April 22nd 2014.
The protest group is conducting a variety of events: An Indigo Girls concert, and ritual water ceremonies are scheduled to take place on the National Mall and outside the home of Secretary of State John Kerry.
A foreign corporation TransCanada is planning their pipeline to be routed through many indian reservations lands and across the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the United States’ largest underground water reserves, which will be carrying toxic, corrosive, unrefined bitumen tar sand.
Video about The Cowboy and Indian Alliance Reject & Protect Protest March on Washington
Tar sand oil has already had two major spills classified by the The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) releasing benzene and other
carcinogens, in both the Kalamazoo River (in 2010) and in the 2013 Mayflower, Arkansas Exxon oil spill outside of Little Rock.
Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat has said that “Americans are realizing that transporting large amounts of this corrosive and polluting fuel is a bad deal for American taxpayers and for our environment.”
A partial list of oil spills can be found at:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oil_spills
Tar sands oil production is also a threat to the world’s climate in addition to local environmental concerns. Compared to other types of crude oil tar sands oil releases several times more greenhouse gas emissions per barrel and thus would contribute significantly to climate change/global warming.
Perhaps even more ironic is that many of those in favor of building the Keystone XL Pipeline knows that the USA can always use more oil since it consumes more oil than any nation on earth, the oil from the Keystone XL Pipeline is to be refined in the USA, but then shipped to non-USA markets, due to the fact that more money can be made by the oil’s owner (TransCanada). The USA assumes all the risk and get none of the benefits of using that oil to fuel the economy, except for a very short term pipeline construction project and perhaps hiring clean-up crews after spills, which also have a history of acquiring related medical conditions for their good deeds.
The Cowboy and Indian Alliance Reject & Protect Protest March Photo Gallery
The protest rally is scheduled to culminate on Saturday, April 26th, with several thousand people when they are to be joined by other interested celebrities such as Daryl Hanna and Bill McKibben from the anti-carbon campaign group 350.org. Many will also be there to remind President Obama of his campaign promise to end the USA’s dependency on oil and “finally free America from the tyranny of oil”.
Green-Eco-EV News Reporting by Ken Green Burridge
Kenneth Burridge test-drives electric Nissan LEAF in Melbourne Australia
EV of the Year Judge, independent green journalist, photographer, author and sustainability activist that has published over 1000 articles. Mr Burridge’s travels have taken him to over 30 countries and 300+ major cities. He is originally from the USA, but has been residing in Australia for the last seven years. Connect to Ken Burridge on: Twitter, facebook, Google+, Linked in or website
