Keystone XL Pipeline poses threats to water

My wife and I are protesting the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. If built, the pipeline would carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico. The project poses a major threat to water supplies on both sides of the border.

The Keystone XL would cut diagonally across Montana and the Nebraska Sand Hills - a delicate region of porous, sandy soils. It also would cross the Ogallala Aquifer, an underground reservoir of importance for agriculture that also provides drinking water for 2 million people. A pipeline leaking diluted bitumen into groundwater could have disastrous consequences.

NASA climatologist Jim Hansen has said that if we have any chance of getting back to a stable climate, “ ... coal emissions must be phased out by 2030 and unconventional fossil fuels, such as tar sands, must be left in the ground.” The ultimate decision to grant or deny approval for the project lies with President Obama.

And as Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and a leading environmental writer, has said, “This is a stark choice for the administration to make.“

Hansen and McKibben were among the first who put out the initial call to action, have been joined by 28 leading environmental groups. We're going to D.C. to take part in this act of civil disobedience.

We urge others to take part with letters, emails and phone calls to the administration.

John Christenson

Iowa City