A group of 20 prominent scientists have sent a letter to President Obama urging him to not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas. Here’s the full text of the letter: The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C
“„The Honorable Barack Obama
“„August 3, 2011
“„President Obama:
“„We are researchers at work on the science of climate change and allied fields. We are writing to add our voices to the indigenous leaders, religious leaders, and environmentalists calling on you to block the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada’s tar sands.
“„The tar sands are a huge pool of carbon, but one that does not make sense to exploit. It takes a lot of energy to extract and refine this resource into useable fuel, and the mining is environmentally destructive. Adding this on top of conventional fossil fuels will leave our children and grandchildren a climate system with consequences that are out of their control. It makes no sense to build a pipeline system that would practically guarantee extensive exploitation of this resource.
“„When other huge oil fields or coal mines were opened in the past, we knew much less about the damage that the carbon they contained would do to the Earth’s climate system and to its oceans. Now that we do know, it’s imperative that we move quickly to alternate forms of energy—and that we leave the tar sands in the ground. We hope those so inclined will join protests scheduled for August and described at tarsandsaction.org.
“„If the pipeline is to be built, you as president have to declare that it is “in the national interest.” As scientists, speaking for ourselves and not for any of our institutions, we can say categorically that it’s not only not in the national interest, it’s also not in the planet’s best interest.
“„Sincerely,
“„James Hansen
“„John Abraham
“„Dean Abrahamson
“„David Archer
“„Jason Box
“„Ken Caldeira
“„Peter Gleick
“„Richard A. Houghton
“„Robert W. Howarth
“„Ralph Keeling
“„Donald Kennedy
“„Michael MacCracken
“„Michael E. Mann
“„James McCarthy
“„Michael Oppenheimer
“„Raymond T. Pierrehumbert
“„Steve Running
“„Richard Somerville
“„Ray J. Weymann
“„George M. Woodwell