Sovereign Nations Walk Out of Meeting With U.S. State Department
Unanimously Rejecting Keystone XL Pipeline
The State Department, still with "egg on its face" from its statement that Keystone XL
would have little impact on climate change, sunk a little lower today as the most respected
elders, and chiefs of 10 sovereign nations turned their backs on State Department
representatives and walked out during a meeting. The meeting, which was a failed attempt
at a "nation to nation" tribal consultation concerning the Keystone XL Pipeline neglected to
address any legitimate concerns being raised by First Nations Leaders (or leading scientific
experts for that matter).
Climate Science Watch,
The EPA and most people with common sense rebuked the State
Department's initial report and today First Nations sent a very clear message to President
Obama and the world concerning the future fate of their land regarding Keystone XL.
Vice president for conservation policy at the National Wildlife Federation Jim Lyon
said of the
department's original analysis that it "fails in its review of climate impacts, threats to
endangered wildlife like whooping cranes and woodland caribou, and the concerns of tribal
communities." Today tribal nations added probably the most critical danger of the pipeline
which is to the water. Their statement is below: