Sanders tells Obama to reject Keystone
President Barack Obama should reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline before heading to Paris next month to finalize a global climate agreement, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Wednesday.
The Vermont independent senator said rejecting the pipeline now would show “bold leadership” in the fight to slow climate change.
The pipeline’s developer, Calgarybased TransCanada, had asked U. S. officials to delay consideration of the Alberta- to- Texas pipeline, potentially putting off a decision until the next U. S. president takes office in 2017. The State Department said Wednesday that the review would not be paused.
Sanders, who is challenging former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Obama should act decisively to reject the long- delayed pipeline.
Appearing at a rally at the U. S. Capitol sponsored by climate activists, he said rejecting the pipeline would signal to the rest of the world that the United States was “walking the walk” on climate change.
“Clearly, ( climate change) is an international crisis. We can’t do it alone” Sanders said.
“But it’s important for those countries to understand that we are not just talking the talk, but we are walking the walk” on climate change.”
Sanders said he had “zero doubt” that if a Republican wins the presidential election, “on day one the Keystone people will be back pushing for that pipeline.”