FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2019
Contacts:
Judith LeBlanc, judith@nativeorganizing.org +1 (917) 806-8775
Dani Heffernan, dani@nokxlpromise.org, +1 (305) 992-1544
Coalition Launches Native-led Training Tour on Resisting Fossil Fuel Extraction
The “Promise to Protect” tour is coming to 10 cities bringing training to local pipeline fighters committed to stopping the fossil fuel industry
This weekend, a coalition of Indigenous leaders, farmers and ranchers, and their allies will kick off a training tour to prepare for creative resistance against the Keystone XL pipeline and other fossil fuel projects. The “Promise to Protect” Tour, named for the commitment made by more than 25,000 people to mobilize against the Keystone XL pipeline, will stop in 10 cities across the U.S. and several reservations along the pipeline route. Though last week’s court ruling upholding the ban on construction for Keystone XL is likely to cause even more delay for TransCanada, the effort to stop this pipeline is not over. Meanwhile, the work to prevent dozens of other fossil fuel projects around the country from being built continues.
As the Trump administration charges ahead with a climate-denying agenda, this tour is fortifying dozens of community organizations on the frontlines of the climate crisis with skills, resources, and lessons from the fight against Keystone XL for opposing oil, coal and gas extraction. The tour will begin on March 23 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with future stops in Denver, Minneapolis, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Miami, Boston, and more. Across these cities, efforts are underway to stop proposed fossil fuel projects — from the Williams pipeline in New York, to Line 3 in the Midwest, and the Phillips 66 refinery expansion in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The fight against the Keystone XL pipeline has been waged for more than a decade by Indigenous leaders, tribes and farmers and ranchers along the proposed route, with support from allies around the world. Since day one of his administration, Trump has made building the pipeline a cornerstone of his fossil fuel agenda. While Trump attempted to fasttrack the project, it continues to face multiple legal challenges. Despite delays and setbacks, the company behind Keystone XL, TransCanada, is doing everything they can to move it forward.
For more information about the tour, visit https://nokxlpromise.org/training-tour/.
QUOTES:
Judith Le Blanc (Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma), Director, Native Organizers Alliance: “NOA is honored to be a part of the circle of the Promise to Protect Tour. No power is greater than unity in action to protect Mother Earth. Our power grows from building community grounded in the traditional values of relationality and reciprocity. Native peoples coming together in alliance with all who put the natural world and humanity before fossil fuel corporate projects is the only path to ending the threat of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Promise to Protect Training Tour will grow the grassroots power to ensure the sovereign right of the Oceti Shakowin tribes to decide, NoKXL!”
Joye Braun, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal member and Indigenous Environmental Network community organizer: “We are excited to start the Promise to Protect tour, an unprecedented collaboration between Indigenous peoples, farmers, ranchers, and our allies to learn, share, and inspire each other to stop this zombie pipeline, Keystone XL. It is through a unified effort that we can once again beat this pipeline. Our tribal nations are under attack like no other time in history except for first contact. We must stand united not only together as the original peoples of this land, but with our allies. It is together, and truly recognizing our teachings and taking leadership in these battles to save humanity, that hope springs forth for all of us. This tour is a big step in building the relationships and skills that will help stop Keystone XL and all the extractive industry battles we face.”
Lewis Grassrope, Wiconi un Tipi Camp in Lower Brule, South Dakota: “It’s great to be part of this collective relationality of many different walks of life. This tour will help all to understand the atrocious acts that are affecting our ways of life and the future for generations to come. It will also bring all issues together and the collective power to overcome them. If it’s time for anything, it’s time to become a true relative to all and protect all our ways of life.”
Faith Spotted Eagle, member of the Yankton Sioux Nation and Brave Heart Society: “To live is to drink clean water and to save it for your grandchildren. By spreading the urgent message through many networks, we can survive. Remember your grandchildren’s grandchildren. Stand up.”
May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director: “This tour is building upon the legacy of Indigenous-led resistance to Keystone XL and many other fossil fuel projects threatening communities and our climate. With the Trump administration propping up Big Oil at every turn, working in coalition against the expansion of fossil fuels and toward a renewable energy future is critical. Together, we will stop this pipeline and strengthen the movement to keep oil, coal and gas in the ground as we build the real solutions we need.”
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