Danny Berchenko to President Obama: Stop the Keystone XL 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.

"The State Department did come out in favor of the pipeline which is not a good sign, but the ultimate decision-making authority is in the president's hands so we're still holding out hope that Obama will do the right thing and deny this permit."

Berchenko said the president likely will decide on whether to approve the Keystone XL before the end of this year.

As with other issues such as mountain top removal mining, environmental activists encounter the claim that what they are fighting against will create jobs. Berchenko rejects that idea.

"We have crumbling bridges, a lack of sustainable transportation options in a mass transit system that could employ tens of thousands of Americans. We can put them back to work by building a sustainable energy infrastructure. That's what we need to put people to work on, not building a destructive, planet-killing pipeline."

Berchenko agrees that what's going on with US energy policy is yet another example of big corporations having too much power over our political process.

"The president is under intense pressure from the fossil fuel industry and corporate interests which support the fossil fuel industry. So, that's why we're here: to put the pressure on him from the opposite side, especially here in Ohio which is a key battle ground state. It's going to be key for his reelection campaign."

Berchenko shares w/ other activists the view that opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has galvanized the environmental movement. Last month there was a two-week long sit-in near the White House that lead to 1,253 people getting arrested. Berchencko was one of them.

"There was a humungous rally across the street from us in Lafayette Park supporting those of us who were sitting in, making our voices that much louder."