Friday, November 18, 2011

Obama: Just say NO to Keystone XL

After 1,252 arrests this summer, a rally of more than 10,000 people at the White House earlier this month, and six months of grassroots protests, rallies, and petitions across the country, the State Department announced last week that it was delaying a decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline until at least 2012.

Photo credit: www.heatingoil.com 
What is the Keystone XL pipeline? A 1,700 mile TransCanada pipeline that would carry 900,000 barrels of oil each day from the tar sands in Canada through the U.S. to refineries in Texas. The pipeline would cut through six states, over seventy rivers and streams, aquifers, farms, and backyards, and disrupt native communities.

Extraction of the oil poisons the air and water, requires hundreds of millions of gallons of water each day, and requires deforestation of the boreal forest in Canada. The oil is bitumen, an especially dirty oil whose refinement results in 20% more carbon emissions than does conventional fuel.

The jobs the pipeline would create would be mostly temporary. The environmental, social, and public health costs of the pipeline over decades and centuries would outweigh any short-term job creation. This pipeline would only increase our dependence on fossil fuels for energy, at a time when our money would be better invested in safe, renewable sources of energy.

Much more after the jump...

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Congrats to the new board!

Congratulations to the new EcoAction board!

Co-Presidents: Megan Griffin & Fatima Tas

Treasurer: Patricia Cippolitti

VP of Initiatives: Tristana Giunta

Marketing & Multimedia Chair: Madeline Collins

Monk: Colin Segura

Goodbye, good luck, and THANK YOU to our graduating seniors, former Co-Presidents Claire Austin and Seungah Lee! And the best of luck to former Treasurer Coral Keegan on her semester in Thailand!

In the coming weeks, the new board will be discussing EcoAction's focus for the next two semesters. If you have an idea for an issue you'd like us to work on, just let us know!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Recycling WIN and FAIL!

Recycling FAIL! 

First of all, you can't recycle pizza, and second, cardboard pizza boxes should be stacked by paper recycling bins.

Recycling WIN! 

I think. This squirrel is graciously cleaning our recycling bins by taking food away!

Much thanks to Colin Segura for this great WINs and FAILs!