Opponents Vow to Stop Keystone XL Pipeline After Trump Grants Construction Permit

Interview with Sara Shor, campaign manager for U.S. Keep It In The Ground, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

In November 2015, President Obama announced his decision to deny a permit to the TransCanada company, which needed it to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the Canadian border from the Alberta tar sands mining operations – to where it would connect to an already existing pipeline in Nebraska that had been earlier approved and built under Obama.

The permit denial was considered a great people-powered victory for the climate movement, as it brought together environmentalists, property owners along the route, ranchers, farmers and indigenous communities in the upper Midwest. Then, as one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump resurrected the Keystone XL, promising “thousands” of jobs, partly through using pipes made of U.S. steel, despite the fact that the company had already purchased pipes mostly manufactured abroad.

The environmental group 350.org was a leader in the fight to kill the KXL pipeline the first time around and is now gearing up to do so again. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Sara Shor, lead organizer with 350.org’s Keystone XL pipeline campaign. Here, she talks about the focus of the campaign this time around that revolves around a federal lawsuit, the pipeline permitting process in Nebraska and the decreasing price of oil.

To learn more about the continuing opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline project, visit 350.org at 350.org and Bold Nebraska at boldnebraska.org.

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