Thousands of protesters rallied outside the White House on Sunday to press US President Barack Obama to scrap plans for a multibillion-dollar oil pipeline stretching from Canada to Texas.
“Our mainstream society is extremely destructive and exploitative. This is one of the most egregious examples of overexploitation,” said Ken Srdjak, 25, an artist from Ohio.
Completing the pipeline would mean “harming indigenous peoples and the environment,” he said.
Washington has launched consultations on the 2,700km Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from the tar sands of the Canadian province of Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico in the southern US.
Many environmentalists fear a potential pipeline accident would spell disaster for aquifers in central US Great Plains states. That could disproportionately endanger rural towns and Native Americans, they say.
Thousands of demonstrators crammed Lafayette Square opposite the White House, as Obama was out playing golf.
Hundreds protested in vibrant orange vests reading “Stop Keystone XL,” while others waved signs with slogans, such as “We believe in a better way — if it doesn’t involve tar sands” and “Pipeline to the Apocalypse.”
Dozens more danced to pop music in front of a soundstage waving their protest banners less than a block from the White House. Lauren Glapa, 19, rode a bus overnight from Indiana University for her first protest with dozens of classmates to make their voices heard.
“So many people don’t know anything about this issue. Obviously Obama does and I don’t know what he is going to do, but if we increase awareness, maybe he will do the right thing,” she said, readying for the long ride home.
The Keystone XL pipeline proposed by TransCanada would begin in western Canada and pass through the US states of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma before ending up at refineries in Texas.
A number of environmental and citizen groups are fighting the pipeline because exploiting the unconventional oil sands of Alberta requires energy that produces a large volume of greenhouse gases.
Concerns about potential for an environmental disaster seem to be heightened on the heels of last year’s devastating BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The US Department of State is handling public consultations, since the pipeline would run across the border with Canada. However, it said on Wednesday it might not decide whether to issue a permit for the proposed pipeline by the end of this year as planned.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
RSS