Neil Young, Robert Redford Fight Keystone Pipeline

Neil Young, Senator Harry Reid and Senator Debbie Stabenow  at a press conference today on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC last week.
Neil Young, Senator Harry Reid and Senator Debbie Stabenow at a press conference today on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC last week.

Last week it was Neil Young taking a stand against the proposed Keystone Pipeline, which if build would transport tar sands oil from Hardisty, Alberta, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska, according to Wikipedia. President Barack Obama has been delaying his decision regarding the pipeline.

Young spoke at a press conference in Washington D.C. with Senators Harry Reid and Debbie Stabenow. “I am against the Keystone pipeline in a big way,” Young said. “The fact is, Fort McMurray [Alberta] looks like Hiroshima. Fort McMurray is a wasteland. The Indians up there and the native peoples are dying. People are sick. People are dying of cancer because of this. All of the First Nations peoples up there are threatened by this. Their food supply is wasted, their treaties are no good. They have the right to live on the land, like they always did, but there’s no land left that they can live on. All the animals are dying.”

Today a video featuring Robert Redford protesting the pipeline was released on You Tube:

 

“The Keystone XL and tar sands expansion have no place in a clean energy future,” Redford said in the video. “I can understand why oil companies love tar sands. There is a lot of money to be made by strip mining and drilling the dirtiest oil on the planet.

“The oil industry is lobbying hard for President Obama’s approval to let the Keystone XL pipeline cross our border and move a river of tar sands to the Gulf Coast, where much of it will be shipped overseas,” Redford continued. “But why should the rest of us pay the price so that the oil companies can line their pockets? Developing the Canadian tar sands is destroying our continent’s great northern forest at a terrifying rate. It is producing enough carbon pollution to wreak havoc with our climate for decades to come. And the pipelines that carry this dirty fuel are a direct threat to our nation’s own drinking water supplies. If you ask me, tar sands oil is exactly the type of dirty oil we can no longer afford. It may be great for oil companies, but it is killing our planet. There is no energy security in that. The saner choice is clean energy.”

Up in Canada this is how the story is being covered — be sure to check out the video embedded in the story.

 

About Michael Goldberg

Michael Goldberg is a distinguished pioneer in the online music space; Newsweek magazine called him an ‘Internet visionary.’ In 1994 he founded Addicted To Noise (ATN), the highly influential music web site. He was a senior vice-president and editor in chief at SonicNet from March 1997 through May 2000. In 1997, Addicted To Noise won Webby awards for best music site in 1998 and 1999, and also won Yahoo Internet Life! awards for three years running as best music site in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Prior to starting Addicted To Noise, Goldberg was an editor and senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine for 10 years. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Esquire, Vibe, Details, Downbeat, NME and numerous other publications. Michael has had three novels published that comprise the "Freak Scene Dream trilogy": "True Love Scars," "The Flowers Lied" and "Untitled" which can be ordered here. His new book, "Wicked Game: The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey," can be pre-ordered from HoZac Books. In November Backbeat Books will publish "Addicted To Noise: The Music Writings of Michael Goldberg," which can be be pre-ordered here.

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