The Ian Somerhalder Foundation (ISF) has joined the ever growing international chorus opposing the Keystone XL pipeline.
The pipeline project, which would transport extremely toxic tar sands oil nearly 2,000 miles from Alberta, Canada through the middle of the U.S. heartland to the Texas Gulf coast for refining, has drawn criticism from environmental communities in both the US and Canada.
“The proposed Keystone XL pipeline puts fish and wildlife at risk, threatens the health and livelihood of countless American farmers, and perpetuates the United States’ unhealthy dependence on oil,” says ISF founder Ian Somerhalder. “On behalf of myself, the IS Foundation, and the 22,000 people who have already signed our Stop the Tar Sands Oil Keystone XL Pipeline Petition, we strongly urge the Obama Administration to follow through on its promise to ‘end the age of oil in our time.’”
Backed by more than one million twitter followers and tens of ISF partnership organizations, Somerhalder called on President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to fulfill their pledges to act on climate change by denying the permit for Keystone XL.
Tar sands oil production is one of the most destructive strip mining techniques on earth and results in habitat loss, drinking water contamination, and three times the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere than that of traditional oil. According to Friends of the Earth and a coalition of 20 major environmental groups, recent pipeline spills in the Yellowstone River (July 2011) and the Kalamazoo River (July 2010) have led to more than a million gallons of tar sands oil poured into U.S. rivers, coated wildlife, and caused long-term damage to the local economy and ecosystem.
IS Foundation (ISF): Founded by actor and activist Ian Somerhalder, the IS Foundation aims to empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures. ISF believes that the global problems and challenges we are facing are infinitely interconnected and co-dependent, therefore our solutions and actions must be enacted in an interconnected manner.
Source: Ian Somerhalder Foundation
