Local activists will participate in protest vigils across Kansas on Monday, February 3 at 6 P.M., calling on President Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL pipeline following the release of the State Department’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). The event is part of a national campaign led by the Sierra Club, 350.ORG, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Hip Hop Caucus, and CREDO, among a host of other organizations, calling on the president to keep his commitment to reduce carbon pollution and reject the pipeline.
The vigils are part of a campaign to stop the pipeline from ruining the climate and endangering communities along the proposed pipeline route. The Keystone XL is a tar sands pipeline that would transport diluted bitumen from Alberta Canada and across American soil for export.
The Kansas City vigil has increased resonance because an additional pipeline – the Enbridge tar sands pipeline – will run through the southern part of metro-KC and through southeast Kansas.
With the release of the final SEIS, a 30-day public comment period begins on February 5, 2014 and will close on March 7, 2014. During this period, members of the public and other interested parties are encouraged to submit comments on the national interest to http://www.regulations.gov.
The vigils will be held at three locations:
- Kansas City: J. C. Nichols Fountain on the Plaza, 1 W 47th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111
- Topeka: Kansas Expocentre, 1901 Southwest Topeka Boulevard, Topeka, KS 66612
- Wichita: Kansas Policy Institute, 240 N. Water, Wichita, KS 67202
