Keystone XL Pipeline Tour
Several organizations are co-sponsoring a two-day event about the Keystone XL Pipeline, which seeks to raise awareness on social justice issues related to the building of the pipeline as it affects Native American communities. Oglala Vice President Tom Poor Bear from Pine Ridge in South Dakota will be touring Iowa on Wednesday, October 10 and Thursday, October 11, to share why the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is a threat to the Oglala Lakota Nation and other native peoples and native lands. On October 10, he will be joined by Randy Thompson, a farmer and rancher from Merrick County, Nebraska, who has been the leading opponent of the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska since TransCanada first threatened to condemn his family’s farm to construct the tar sands pipeline.
Please mark your calendars now and plan to attend one or more of these events.
Schedule of events:
Wednesday, October 10th:
2:30 p.m. – Press conference at the State Capitol (west steps or, in case of rain, Room 116)
3:30 p.m. – Discussion at Drake University in Des Moines (location to be determined)
8:00 p.m. – "The Keystone XL Pipeline and the Protection of American Land"
ISU National Affairs Lecture Series in the Great Hall, Memorial Union, at Iowa State
Thursday, October 11th:
11:00 a.m. – Community Discussion at Brewed Cafe, 1101 Third Street SE, in Cedar Rapids
Tar Sands Pipeline Tour-Vice President Tom Poor Bear of the Oglala Lakota Nation from Pine Ridge will be having a community discussion about the impact of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on native peoples and native lands as part of a state-wide tour at the:
1:30 p.m. – "The Keystone XL Pipeline and the Protection of American Land"
Lecture at the University of Iowa, S401 Pappajohn Business School located at the corner of Clinton and Jefferson Streets in Iowa City.
Tom Poor Bear is the Vice President of the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Nation and a longtime American Indian activist. He is a leader in the Native American opposition to the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry tar-sands crude-oil mined in Alberta, Canada, 1,700 miles across the Great Plains to Gulf Coast refineries. The Oglala Lakota argue the pipeline not only violates territorial rights granted to them in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty but puts their water resources at great risk. The proposed pipeline would cross several important rivers and streams as well as the Mni Wiconi water pipeline, which pumps water from those sources to the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations. Vice President Poor Bear grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and has for many years held political leadership positions within the Oglala Lakota Nation.
Randy Thompson, a farmer and rancher from Merrick County, Nebraska, became a leading opponent of the Keystone XL pipeline out of concerns that his land would be condemned for the pipeline. Groups organized "Stand with Randy" events across Nebraska in support of his efforts. Although his land is no longer threatened by the new proposed route for the pipeline, Thompson continues to speak out about how the pipeline threatens other farms and ranches across Nebraska.
Sponsors of this tour include Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, Sierra Club, Central Iowa Sierra Group, Prairiewoods, the Iowa Wildlife Federation, the ISU National Affairs Lecture Series, the UI Office of Sustainability, and the Drake Environmental Science and Policy Program.
This tour is an important opportunity to remind Iowans of the many problems with the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and to encourage Iowans to think about where they get their energy and the impact it has on other people and the environment, both at home and around the world.
It is also an opportunity to educate Iowans that we have many better alternatives: energy conservation, fuel efficiency, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green buildings, rail, electric vehicles, and other transportation solutions. These alternatives would help us create more jobs, save consumers money, improve health, and slow down and eventually stop climate change. For more details about the problems with the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and the tour, visit www.iowaclimateadvocates.org.