Tar sands pipeline opponents throw penalty flags for Congress, API
On the 24th of January, many of the same groups that protested the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline held a protest on Capitol Hill dressed in football referee uniforms and blowing whistles. They demanded that oil industry lobbyists STOP trying to revive the tar sands pipeline and that members of Congress refuse their “donations.”
Video focussing on the visit to API
Audio-most of the speakers in front of the US Capitol
After the rally in front of the Capitol, most of the protesters boarded the Metro and got off at the McPherson Square station. From there they marched to the offices of API, the American Petroleum Institute. At API, penalty flags were thrown and whistles blown to protest API’s massive efforts to corrupt US democracy not only on the Keystone XL, but on ALL issues related to oil.
On the same day as this protest, the GOP announced that they are considering attaching language to authorize construction of the pipeline to the upcoming highway funding bill. If the GOP-controlled House refused to pass any other version of the bill, Obama would have to veto or the Senate refuse to pass the bill containing essentially ALL the highway repair and construction money for the upcoming year.
Once again, Big Oil is going to try to buy Congress. Over time, their “investments” on Capitol Hill have paid off in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the tune of over 300 dollars for every dollar API et all have spend on lobbying. This in spite of the fact that Exxon is the richest corporation “in the history of money” as one speaker in the rally put it.
This time around, it will be an epic fight: On the one hand, Obama has to do the right thing, or pro-Earth voters will stay home in November. He has therefore refused to cooperate with the GOP on the pipeline-for now. In addition, the Occupy Movement has blown the Tea Party off the stage.
On the other hand, Citizens United means API, Exxon, Shell, etc can legally spend as much money as they want trying to buy permission from Congress to build the pipeline. Failing that, they can try to buy the 2012 election for pro-oil industry GOP candidates, again with NO spending restrictions.
