Tom Poor Bear & Daryl Hannah Speak Out Against on Keystone XL Pipeline

Native News Network Staff in Native Challenges. Discussion »

BOULDER, COLORADO – A video featuring both Tom Poor Bear, vice president of the Oglala Lakota Sioux, and actor Daryl Hannah was released today by the 'Defend America, Stop Keystone Tour.' The 3:43 minute video urges Americans to sign an 'Open Letter' calling on Obama and Romney to withdraw their support for Keystone XL pipeline.

Both candidates doubled down on their support for the pipeline during Tuesday night's debate, with Governor Romney saying; "We're going to bring that pipeline in from Canada."

President Obama responded; "We've built enough pipeline to wrap around the Earth once. So I'm all for pipelines."

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“I look at this pipeline as an aching 100 mile snake that is going to bore south into Mother Earth and start spitting black venom inside our water.”

Said Tom Poor Bear the day of the first Presidential Debate.

Later the video features actor/activist Daryl Hannah, who was recently arrested, along with Eleanor Fairchild, for halting the construction of Keystone XL on Fairchild's east Texas farm. Following her release from the Wood County jail, Hannah stated;

“In the US, we have a long history of non-violent civil disobedience, one of the primary tools used by citizens to stand up against injustice. When a law is unjust, sometimes as a last resort, the only option is to break it.”

“I don't think there is an even playing field for the American landowners and this Canadian tar sands pipeline company, TransCanada. Most people can't fight these bullies. They push people around. They intimidate, threaten and scare people and they take what they want. It's not right.”

Said Great-grandmother Eleanor Fairchild, whose land was seized by TransCanada through eminent domain.

“TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline serves no legitimate public interest,”

said signatory Ron Seifert, a Spokesperson for the Tar Sands Blockade, a separate but complimentary effort underway in Texas to nonviolently halt the pipeline's construction.

Other prominent signatories of the 'Open Letter' include Mariel Hemingway, Dr. James Hansen, Ed Begley, Jr., Bonnie Raitt, Lester Brown, Julia Butterfly Hill, Bill McKibben and race car driver LeiLani Munter.

Add your name to the list of signatories of the 'Open Letter' here.

posted October 17, 2012 3:40 pm edt