FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 10, 2017

CONTACT:
Collin Rees, collin [at] priceofoil [dot] org

460,000+ Comments against Keystone XL Delivered to Nebraska Commission

On Thursday, August 10th, in Lincoln, NE, activist groups delivered more than 460,000 public comments opposing the Keystone XL pipeline to the Nebraska Public Service Commission. Amid the ongoing week of hearings regarding TransCanada’s application to build the tar sands pipeline, Oil Change International Campaigner Collin Rees released the following statement:

“The Nebraska Public Service Commission faces a clear choice: Stand with a foreign oil company that has publicly admitted they might not build this pipeline even if they get the permits, or stand with the people of Nebraska and a renewable energy future.

“Native tribes, farmers, ranchers, Nebraskans, and millions of activists around the globe have been fighting the Keystone XL pipeline for years, and they’ll keep fighting until it’s stopped for good.

“There’s no sense in approving a pipeline full of tar sands – the dirtiest oil on Earth – when we know that we can’t develop new fossil fuels and remain within climate limits. The Public Service Commission must reject this dirty export pipeline.”

Further background:

  • Just days prior to the beginning of the Keystone XL hearings, the Nebraska Public Service Commission rejected the testimony of Oil Change International expert Lorne Stockman, as well as 40+ other outside experts and landowners on the pipeline route.
  • The rejected testimony showed that there is no need for the Keystone XL pipeline, as there is more than enough existing pipeline capacity and no plans for additional oil production from the Canadian tar sands that would exceed this capacity.
  • Anticipated tar sands production growth is a legacy from before the 2014 oil price crash. The vast majority of expected production still to come on line was sanctioned in 2013; after those projects are completed in 2020, no new construction activity is planned.

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