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For Immediate Release: Contact: Daniel Kessler, dk@350.org, 510.501.1779

 **Press Call Monday at 1:00pm EST**

Number: 866.952.7525, Passcode: CLIMATE

International dialers: 785.424.1830

Canadian and US Scientists and Policy Experts Call Canada’s Climate Bluff

Politicians misleadingly tout Canada’s climate regulations for political gain

Though Canadian politicians are touting their climate record as a way to inoculate against attacks that Keystone XL is “game over” for climate, this political rhetoric could not be further from the truth. Climate scientists in Canada and the US are expressing concern about Canada's lack of climate progress and its attempt to look environmentally progressive as a way to secure Keystone approval.

Canadian and US climate scientists will host a press call on Monday, February 25 at 1:00pm EST to address Canadian politicians’ misleading rhetoric and express their concerns that Canada’s much-touted oil and gas regulations will fail to do anything meaningful on climate change given the federally-allowed expansion of tar sands development and the long history of broken promises on climate action.

WHO:  Dr John Abraham, University of St. Thomas School of Engineering

Dr John Stone, adjunct Professor at Carleton University

Dr Daniel Harvey, Department of Geography, University of Toronto

Mark Jaccard, professor of environmental economics at Simon Fraser University

Tzeporah Berman, BA, MES, Author and Canadian environmentalist 

Bill McKibben, 350.org Founder

WHAT:           Scientist press call about Canada’s failing climate policy

WHEN:          Monday, February 25 at 1:00pm EST

HOW:             Number: 866.952.7525, Passcode: CLIMATE

International dialers: 785.424.1830

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

February 17, 2013

Contacts:   Daniel Kessler, dk@350.org, 510-501-1779; Eddie Scher, eddie.scher@sierraclub.org, 415-815-7027; Jake Thompson, jthompson@nrdc.org, 301-602-3627

“Forward on Climate” Rally: More Than 35,000 strong March on Washington for Climate Action

Washington, D.C., February 17, 2013 – Today, during President’s Day weekend, more than 35,000 people are marching to the President's doorstep to support immediate action to contain climate change. People from more than 30 states across the country whose land, homes and health is being threatened by the climate crisis, as well as students, scientists, indigenous community members and many others are participating in this largest climate rally in U.S. history.

“For 25 years our government has basically ignored the climate crisis: now people in large numbers are finally demanding they get to work. We shouldn't have to be here--science should have decided our course long ago. But it takes a movement to stand up to all that money,” said 350.org founder Bill McKibben.

Rally participants are calling on President Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and put limits on dangerous carbon pollution from the nation's dirtiest power plants. Much of President Obama's legacy will rest squarely on his response, resolve, and leadership in fighting the climate crisis. Rally participants are looking for him move forward on his recent State of the Union address declaration when he said, “For the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change.”

“Twenty years from now on President’s Day, people will want to know what the president did in the face of rising sea levels, record droughts and furious storms brought on by climate disruption,” said Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.  “President Obama holds in his hand a pen and the power to deliver on his promise of hope for our children.  Today, we are asking him to use that pen to to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and ensure that this dirty, dangerous, export pipeline will never be built.”

The Keystone XL tar sands project would pipe some of the dirtiest oil on the planet through the breadbasket of America to be shipped overseas through the Gulf of Mexico. It would be a disaster for our climate, producing tar sands crude that kicks out two or three times as much carbon pollution as producing conventional crude oil.

“The Yinka Dene Alliance of British Columbia is seeing the harm from climate change to our peoples and our waters,” said Chief Jacqueline Thomas, immediate past Chief of the Saik’uz First Nation in British Columbia and co-founder Yinka Dene Alliance (“People of the Earth”). “We see the threat of taking tar sands out of the Earth and bringing it through our territories and over our rivers. The harm being done to people in the tar sands region can no longer be Canada’s dirty secret. We don’t have the billions of dollars that industry has. But we do have  our faith that people will do the right thing to protect Mother Earth. The Forward on Climate Rally shows that we are not alone in the fight to stop tar sands expansion and tackle climate change.”

In addition, right now, the president has the authority and responsibility under the Clean Air Act to cut the amount of dangerous carbon pollution emitted from dirty power plants.  These power plants are the biggest contributors to climate disruption, but are currently allowed to pollute without limits.

“This President has the power to achieve the single biggest carbon reduction ever, by holding our biggest carbon polluters – dirty power plants – accountable for what they dump into the air, said Van Jones, NRDC Trustee and President Rebuild the Dream. “Cleaning up this pollution and using more clean energy will provide jobs to thousands of Americans, save families real money when it comes to electricity bills and, most important, will make a real difference in our health and the health of our children.”

Today’s historic rally to call for climate leadership reflects Americans’ recognition of the threats of climate change and their support for meaningful action now. Study after study has shown strong public support for climate solutions, including polling conducted by Public Policy Polling immediately after the President’s State of the Union address. That PPP poll found that 65 percent of Americans think that climate change is a serious problem and a substantial majority of Americans support President Obama using his authority to reduce its main cause, dangerous carbon pollution.

The “Forward on Climate” rally was organized by 350.org; Sierra Club, Hip Hop Caucus; Natural Resources Defense Council and many other organizations.

The following leaders spoke at the rally:

• The Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO
• Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director
• Van Jones, NRDC Trustee and President Rebuild the Dream
• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Democratic Senator from Rhode Island
• Chief Jacqueline Thomas, Immediate past Chief of the Saik’uz First Nation in British Columbia and co-founder Yinka Dene Alliance
• Crystal Lameman, Beaver Lake Cree First Nation
• Maria T. Cardona, Latinovations Founder, Dewey Square Group Principal
• Bill McKibben, 350.org President, Scholar at Middlebury College
• Tom Steyer, Investor and founder of the Center for the Next Generation

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More information at forwardonclimate.org.



For more background:

Letter to President Obama on January 7, 2013 addressing climate change: docs.nrdc.org/globalwarming/files/glo_13010401a.pdf

NRDC common sense plan for carbon pollution limits for power plants: www.nrdc.org/air/pollution-standards/

Pembina Institute report on Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and climate change: www.pembina.org/pub/2407

PPP poll after State of the Union:

www.nrdc.org/2013stateofunion/

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February 16, 2013

GRASSROOTS ACTIVISTS TO HOLD LARGEST CLIMATE RALLY IN U.S. HISTORY

**Sunday, February 17 at 11 AM ET**

Contacts: Daniel Kessler/ 510-501-1779 / daniel@350.org; Eddie Scher / 415-977-5758 / Eddie.scher@sierraclub.org;

What: Forward On Climate Rally, the largest climate rally in American history

Who: Thousands of Americans calling for Climate Action, 100 buses from 28 states, Celebrity Climate Activists, Michael Brune (Sierra Club), Van Jones (Rebuild the Dream), Bill McKibben (350.org), Reverend Yearwood (Hip Hop Caucus), and representatives from more than 100 other orgs from the greater progressive movement including NAACP, Greenpeace and NRDC.

Where: Washington Monument on the National Mall with a march to the White House

When: Sunday, February 17, 2013

Press availability at 11 AM ET at corner of Constitution Ave NW and 15th St NW by Washington Monument.

11:30 AM ET set up for camera (camera riser 30 feet in front of stage) Rally and March from 12 PM ET-4 PM ET

Why: Tens of thousands of Americans will show President Obama the broad public support for climate solutions, while also challenging him to keep his commitment of making climate action a top priority during his second term. The president has several actions that he alone can take, including rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and adopting a strong carbon rule to limit pollution from coal plants.

Visuals: A human pipeline will be made down 15th street; over 15,000 placards; and colorful banners.

For more information, go to: www.ForwardonClimate.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

February 13, 2013

Contacts:Eddie Scher, Sierra Club, 415-815-7027; Maggie Kao, Sierra Club, 202-675-2384; Daniel Kessler, 350.org, 510-501-1779

48 ENVIRONMENTAL, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS ENGAGE IN HISTORIC ACT OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE TO STOP KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE 

JULIAN BOND, BILL MCKIBBEN, MICHAEL BRUNE, AND OTHERS ARRESTED IN FRONT OF WHITE HOUSE IN CALL FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This morning, 48 environmental, civil rights, and community leaders from across the country joined together for a historic display of civil disobedience at the White House where they demanded that President Obama deny the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and address the climate crisis.

Among the notable leaders involved in the civil disobedience were Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club; Bill McKibben, Founder of 350.org; Julian Bond, former president of the NAACP; Danny Kennedy, CEO of Sungevity, and Daryl Hannah, American actress. 

After blocking a main thoroughfare in front of the White House, and refusing to move when asked by police, the activists were arrested and transported to Anacostia for processing by the US Park Police Department.

“The threat to our planet's climate is both grave and urgent,” said civil rights activist Julian Bond. “Although President Obama has declared his own determination to act, much that is within his power to accomplish remains undone, and the decision to allow the construction of a pipeline to carry millions of barrels of the most-polluting oil on Earth from Canada's tar sands to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. is in his hands.  I am proud today to stand before my fellow citizens and declare, ‘I am willing to go to jail to stop this wrong.’ The environmental crisis we face today demands nothing less.”

“We really shouldn't have to be put in handcuffs to stop KXL--our nation's leading climate scientists have told us it's dangerous folly, and all the recent Nobel Peace laureates have urged us to set a different kind of example for the world, so the choice should be obvious,” said 350.org founder Bill McKibben. “But given the amount of money on the other side, we've had to spend our bodies, and we'll probably have to spend them again.”

“For the first time in the Sierra Club’s 120-year history, we have joined the ranks of visionaries of the past and present to engage in civil disobedience, knowing that the issue at hand is so critical, it compels the strongest defensible action,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “We cannot afford to allow the production, transport, export and burning of the dirtiest oil on Earth via the Keystone XL pipeline. President Obama must deny the pipeline and take decisive steps to address climate disruption, the most significant issue of our time.”

If approved, the Keystone XL pipeline would boost carbon pollution tomorrow by triggering a boom of growth in the tar sands industry in Canada, and greatly increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that this tar sands pipeline will boost annual U.S. carbon pollution emissions by up to 27.6 million metric tons – the impact of adding nearly 6 million cars on the road.

However, new research by Oil Change International (OCI) shows that the government’s estimates of the carbon emissions associated with Keystone XL underestimates the full impact of tar sands because a barrel of tar sands produces significantly more petroleum coke than conventional crude, which is more carbon-intensive than coal. The research can be found at: priceofoil.org/2013/01/17/petroleum-coke-the-coal-hiding-in-the-tar-sands/.

OCI’s research shows that Keystone XL will produce enough petcoke to fuel five U.S. coal plants. The emissions from this petcoke have not yet been included in climate-impact analysis of the pipeline or the tar sands industry and OCI shows that it will raise total emissions by at least 13 percent.

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For more information, including bios, photos and video, visit www.tarsandsaction.org.

Participants in the action will be taken to the Anacostia US Park Police Station: 1901 Anacostia Drive SE, Washington, D. C. 20020

Previous releases:

February 6, 2013: 60 Groups urge Kerry to continue strong leadership on climate change

January 22, 2013: 350.org Reacts to Nebraska Gov. Heineman's Approval of Keystone XL Route

January 15, 2013: Nation’s Top Climate Scientists Urge President Obama to Reject Keystone XL Pipeline

Click here for past 350.org press releases and media advisories.

Info for Media on our Key Campaigns:

350.org Overview: who we are and how we're using the internet to wire a global climate movement

Bill McKibben, 350.org Founder: recent articles, a bio, and hi-res photos of Bill

Global 350 Images

Pictures from 350 events across the planet are available for free download and use at our Flickr site, where you'll find hi-res images. For photos from the Tar Sands Action campaign against the Keystone XL pipeline, please click here. 

Click here for 350.org logos.