Audio by title president_obama_stop_the_keystone_pipeline

Berchenko, the Ohio organizer for 350.org, an international climate change organization, was there on Cleveland avenue for a demonstration in view of Obama's motorcade as it passed on its way to Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School where the president highlighted his jobs plan yesterday.

"We're here today to put the pressure on Obama to stop the permitting of this destructive pipeline--the Keystone XL--which would carry dangerous tar sands from Canada down to the US gulf coast."

Berchenko said the Keystone XL plan is dangerous for many reasons.
"It (tar sands oil) is the dirtiest form of fossil fuels on the planet. And the pipeline itself would be running over very sensitive ecosystems. One of them is the Ogallala Aquifer which supplies fresh drinking water for 20 million Americans."

He said the pipeline would also open up the Canadian tar sands to full extraction potential.

"Leading climate scientists have said if we burn the tar sands it's essentially game over in terms of climate change. It's a game-over scenario for the planet. We should not even be considering opening up the tar sands to full extraction. We should be doing everything we can to get off oil, to get beyond fossils."

Berchenko said he and other activists were there to remind Obama of the promises he made during his campaign in '08.

"He said that w/ his ascension to the presidency it would mark the beginning of the time that the rise of the oceans began to slow and the planet began to heal. And we're here to remind him of that promise."

Berchenko said the administration has not issued any statement regarding these demands.