[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE - Six Green mayors sign letter from over 100 mayors opposing Keystone XL pipeline

[Green Party of California Updates]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, November 17, 2011



Six Green mayors sign on to letter from over 100 mayors opposing Keystone XL
tar sands pipeline

• Green Party Speakers Bureau: Green leaders available to speak on energy
policy http://www.gp.org/speakers/speakers-energy.php

• Green Party Election Results for November 2011
Green Party Watch
http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2011/11/09/green-party-election-results-november-2011
Election Results Feed http://www.gp.org/elections/results-2011.php


WASHINGTON, DC -- Six Green mayors have signed on to a joint letter to
President Obama from more than 100 mayors expressing grave concerns about the
proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

The mayors, representing communities across the US, voiced relief at President
Obama's decision to postpone the decision, as well as hope that the permit for
the pipeline will be rejected when it comes up for review after the
presidential election.

A summary of the letter, a link to the text, and a list of the mayors can be
found online here:
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/sclefkowitz/over_100_mayors_voice_concern.html

The Green mayors who signed the letter are Larry Bragman (Fairfax, Calif.),
Bruce Delgado (Marina, Calif.), David Doonan (Greenwich, NY), Gayle McLaughlin
(Richmond, Calif.), Jim Sullivan (Victory, NY), and Jason West (New Paltz,
NY).  (Mayor Bragman signed after the web site was published.)

"The delay in the Keystone XL decision is a victory for all those who
protested and spoke out about the dangers of the pipeline," said David Doonan.
  "The small number of jobs created by the pipeline do not justify the health
risks of a pipeline carrying tar sands crude oil from Canada to the Gulf.  We
can create far more jobs through a national public works program that includes
conversion to safe, clean energy technology.  Besides the Keystone XL
pipeline, the Green Party has called for a ban on hydrofracking, mountaintop
removal mining, and offshore oil drilling, all of which increase fossil fuel
addiction and represent serious public health risks."

Richmond, with a population of about 103,000, is the largest US city with a
Green mayor.  Mayor Gayle McLaughlin made news recently when she
enthusiastically welcomed Occupy protests to Richmond
(http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2011/11/09/one-bay-area-mayor-welcomes-occupy-protests-to-her-city).

Mayor Jason West made national news in 2003 when he solemnized same-sex
weddings as mayor in defiance of state law, drawing 19 misdemeanor counts
(later dismissed) and a restraining order.  Same-sex marriage was legalized in
New York in July, 2011.

See also:

Tar Sands Pipelines Safety Risks
National Resources Defense Council
http://www.nrdc.org/energy/tarsandssafetyrisks.asp

"Beyond Fossil Fuels"
By Cecile Lawrence, PhD, JD, New York Green Party candidate for US Senate in 2010
Green Papers, January 25, 2011
http://www.greenpapers.net/?p=58


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
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• Green Papers http://www.greenpapers.net

Press conferences, forums, and other events at the Green Party's 2011 Annual
National Meeting in Alfred, NY, broadcast and archived on the Green Party's
Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• 2011 Annual National Meeting http://nygreenfest.org

Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the
United States (Summer 2011 issue now online)
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog


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