When I was at Powershift–a gathering of almost 10,000 youth environmentalists–last April, the Keystone XL pipeline was being given so little attention by the environmental community that it was not even mentioned in a single keynote speech. Needless to say, the situation has changed, as the proposed project has since become a rallying point for progressives, environmentalists, and many others who are genuinely concerned about the world’s future. The tipping point, most likely, was reached over the summer, when activist Bill McKibben and 1,252 other patriotic Americans got arrested in front of the White House, greatly increasing awareness about the issue.
Keystone XL, if built, would enable Canada to produce an additional 900,000 barrels of tar sands oil every day. Moreover, to the corporate world, approval of the pipeline would send the following message: the transition to a clean energy economy can wait. Yes, the production process of tar sands oil is three times as energy intensive as that of conventional oil, brings disease and loss of livelihood to First Nations groups, and, if done to completion, would cause a part of Canada’s boreal forest the size of Florida to be clear-cut, but using tar sands oil would also mean more energy, and therefore, is the best way forward.
I, however, reached a personal conclusion that Keystone XL should not be built, and was so resolute in my sentiment that I felt that merely signing petitions and donating my Facebook statuses would not suffice; I had to get active.
I knew that banding together with students from just my own school wouldn’t be enough, but that forming a large group could have the potential to help bring about my desired policies. As such, I founded Tar Sands Students, a regional coalition which by now has supporters in almost 20 high schools throughout the capital region.
Tar Sands Students’ first action was meeting with Kerri-Ann Jones, the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment, and Science. As Jones is the most powerful State Department official environmental groups have ever been given access to for Keystone XL related matters, and as she will be one of the top people assisting Hillary Clinton with the decision (since Keystone XL is an international pipeline, the State Department is tasked with approving or rejecting it), the fact that Tar Sands Students’ request to meet with her was approved is a testament to the strength that can be derived from forming a coalition.
The meeting itself was fairly successful. Students articulated their concern about the world’s long-term stability, and also brought forth specific points about the pipeline’s dangers. We might not have fully won Jones over, but we did present her with a resounding case. Furthermore, we provided her what is likely to be the only high school perspective she will ever hear on this matter. And even if Jones was not eager to agree with every point we made, I know that she did take us seriously; Jones spent a full 50 minutes with us, and also brought with her approximately eight aides, among them her Principal Deputy, her Special Assistant, the National Environmental Protection Act Coordinator and Keystone XL Environmental Impact Statement Project Manager, and several policy analysts and assistants.
Although I am not sure whether or not we will make it back to the State Department for another meeting, we are positive that the fight is not over. This Sunday, thousands of concerned citizens, among them many members of Tar Sands Students, will gather at Lafayette Park for an anti-Keystone XL rally; subsequently, we will form a human circle around the White House.
And after the protest? Maybe Tar Sands Students will even we will even be granted a meeting within that majestic beacon of democracy.
Photo Captions: (TOP) High school students who are members of Tar Sands Students wait in front of the State Department to meet with Kerri-Ann Jones; (ABOVE) Founder of Tar Sands Students Michael Greenberg (far left) with fellow students, before the meeting with Jones, as they meet with Jackie Trevino, of the Sierra Club, who offered to answer any of their last minute policy questions.
Michael Greenberg is a 17-year-old high school senior at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Potomac, Maryland. Before becoming active in the anti-Keystokne XL pipeline campaign, he was active on issues of mountaintop removal coal mining and hydraulic fracturing.
