For Immediate Release
November 21, 2017
Contact: Janine Walsh
FAN Communications Coordinator
(203) 685-1856 (cell)
walsh@franciscanaction.org
Despite the Headlines, Yesterday’s Keystone XL Announcement is a Partial Victory for the Future of Our Planet
Latest Keystone victory in Nebraska faces multitude of challenges
Washington, D.C. – The Nebraska Public Service Commission this week approved the Keystone XL Pipeline project, with an order that an alternate route must be used. This alternate route could result in further delays and lawsuits which could stop Keystone XL from ever being utilized and fully built. This comes just days after a section of its sister pipeline in South Dakota leaked over 200,000 barrels of oil causing concerns of seepage into the aquifer and proving that once again oil pipelines put our health and safety at risk, as well as the future of our planet.
Since its inception, there have been major concerns over the structural integrity of these pipelines. Drinking water sources have been contaminated for more than five years from past spills as pipeline accidents have increased by 60 percent nationwide since 2009.
The Trump administration has been arbitrarily rejecting a years-long decision-making regulatory process, relying instead on outdated environmental and health review information to keep campaign promises.
“These pipelines should never have been built; we will continue to oppose their use,” said Patrick Carolan, Executive Director of the Franciscan Action Network. He also states that “as a global leader, we should instead be investing in green, sustainable energy that creates good paying jobs and an infrastructure that will last 50-100 years.”
Pope Francis states in his encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si, that “concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society (#91).” Based on these decisions, the Trump administration is not demonstrating any concern for the environment or for society as a whole.
The Franciscan Action Network will continue to pray for this administration to have a change of heart and we will fight for the betterment of all of God’s creation.
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