No Means No!

Protestors at the White House
Picture credit: chesapeakeclimate


Just in case you have not yet heard, as you were on an extended out of the country journey,  or what ever.
The Keystone Pipeline, although approved by the House last week, was just rejected by the United States Senate.
You heard right, it failed to win approval.
Is this permanent, probably not, but even a tiny or temporary victory in this David and Goliath face off,  feels so good!
Of course those who desperately wanted this passed,  will very soon gather together and push even harder to get it done the next time.
And considering what just happened in the elections with the Republicans now controlling everything, it WILL come up again and soon.
But in the meantime, we, that is you and me, can congratulate each other for a fight, a battle of nearly Biblical proportions,  very well done.
The ball has now been passed to President Obama.
If you have  a spare moment, you might want to sign one of the many letters asking him to do what the American people have made quite clear that they want.
I would so love to be a fly on the wall at the Koch Brothers Headquarters today!
For what seems like forever, this monster issue has been all over social media and especially on FB and WordPress.
As have millions of others, I have signed, called and written about this disastrous plan endlessly.
To quote the NRDC:   ” The Keystone pipeline  is all risk and no benefit for the Americans. “
We never gave up, or gave in and as of right this moment, we the people, those who do not want this nightmare running across our country and through the heartlands of America.
The potential hazards in this are of monumental proportions and the numbers of wild animals and wild places that would suffer from this pipeline are endless.
The Ogallala Aquifer and many other critical water sources for millions of Americans were my particular concern.
As a beloved Geology Professor once said, ” Once water is poisoned, it can take as long as 10,000 years to clean it up.”
This greedy group and their backers have shown so little respect for America’s primary water supplies, as they selfishly pushed hard for years to shove this down our throats.
The company has a very poor track record when it comes to leaks and failures, so why one Earth should they ever be allowed to cross this country and put us all at risk of losing our precious life-giving water?
So, on this joyful day, I am so proud of all of you who fought so hard to stop this.
It is and was, a job well done.
They did their best to break us down and dismiss our demands to reject.
This time money, political power and influence did not win.
The American people did and you can bet that those who just spent a fortune trying to do this, are right this minute collecting their thoughts and funds and getting ready to do battle once again with all of us.
Too many wealthy, powerful people,  have way too much invested in this to allow us, the people, to defeat this and them.
But for now, we have, in no uncertain terms, in a loud clear, unified American voice said:
No Means No!
 
Places to learn more:
Native Americans Arrested Following Keystone XL Pipeline Vote
Breaking: Senate Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline
TransCanada Plots Dirty PR Campaign to Push New Pipeline
Senate Rejects Bid to Force Approval of Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
Victory for Environmentalists: Senate Narrowly Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline