Dear Friends,
As you must know, the threat of passage of permission to construct of the Keystone XL Pipeline is staring at us. The State Department will very likely soon make its final determination and recommendation to the Obama Administration on passage. The Congress has passed a bill that is in conference now, allowing for the KXL construction. It will go to Obama’s desk and he promises to veto it, but it is possible that Congress may be able to override his veto.
Tens of thousands of people across the country have signed pledges to do civil disobedience should the government commit to building the pipeline which would deliver over 800,000 barrels per day of the world’s most polluting oil from the Alberta Tar Sands to the Gulf Coast, mainly for export. The carbon that would be released by this pipeline would provide what NASA scientist James Hansen has termed “Game over for the Climate.”
The stakes are very high. Will we commit to massively decreasing humans’ carbon footprint to provide a sustainable future for our planet, or will we resort to burning massive amounts of more fossil fuels?
Climate Action NOW/350MASS (Pioneer Valley node) and Arise for Social Justice are planning a Nonviolent Direct Action response, coordinated nationally with 350.Org, Credo, and Rainforest Action Network. Many in the Valley are committed to this action, coupled with a public rally and march in Springfield.
The triggering events would be:
- A failure by President Obama to veto Congress’s bill permitting construction;
- An override of a veto by Congress; or
- A finding by the State Department in favor of construction.
We are asking you to pledge to build for an emergency rally and march in Springfield should any of these things happen. We are asking you to sponsor NOW, IN ADVANCE, such an action, communicate that sponsorship to your membership, and make a plan to mobilize them when the time comes. The rally and march will, most certainly, be on a weekday morning and congregate at Court Square in the center of Springfield. The time will be communicated to you when any of the above triggers occur.
We are not asking you to do Nonviolent Direct Action, though, should any of your members be interested, they should contact Dave Roitman at droitman1@verizon.net.
Please fill out the form below and send it to Marty Nathan at martygjf@comcast.net. You may call me at413-531-9915.
Best,
Marty Nathan and Dave Roitman, Climate Action NOW!/350MA
Our group agrees to sponsor the KXL EMERGENCY RESPONSE RALLY to be held in Springfield in response to threatened construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline at a date, time and place to be communicated to us. Sponsorship means informing our membership of our support, allowing our name to be used in publicity and committing to mobilize our membership to come out that day. We know that there will be nonviolent direct action associated with the response but sponsorship does not commit our organization to participation in that aspect of the response.
ORGANIZATION NAME ________________________________
CONTACT PERSON ___________________________
EMAIL _________________________________
PHONE NUMBER ________________________________
Return to Marty Nathan at martygjf@comcast.net.
