Big Oil

Everyday when I wake up, I wonder sardonically, what new surprises will Keystone XL bring me today. Sure, it's a zombie pipeline that just won't die; it's a whack-a-mole pipeline that pops up everywhere; but I'm surprised and saddened to say that today, it's a presidential pipeline.

Today, President Obama stood in Cushing, OK in front of a stack of KXL pipes, calling for the Southern Extension of KXL to be "expedited" and "fast-tracked." Under the guise of his "All of the Above" energy strategy, the President has shown how easily he can bend for Big Oil.

Today we gave the smack-down. Again. And boy did it feel good. Even though we know that this is a tenous win that might be revived (again) in another insipid form, I can't even express how wonderful it feels to rub it in Big Oil's face!

The whole vote I thought about all the work we've put into this, the fact checks, the calling fouls, the protests, the blogs, the petitions, the endless hours. How again and again, we've toiled away on congress to listen to the American people instead of the corporate dollars.

Then I saw my Senator from North Dakota, John Hoeven, introduce his amendment to approve Keystone XL, and shouted (literally) with excitement when the final vote count was announced. 56 to 42. I felt joy. I felt proud. I felt the excitement of possibility. And most of all, I felt relief.

When I heard the news that the Keystone XL pipeline had finally been rejected my first thought was “It’s about damn time!” I rushed to a computer to peruse articles in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the BBC, Politico, everywhere I turned was buzzing with updates from our unlikely narrative. An update of our resounding victory and the power that every single one of you has within. But this is simply one small part of this remarkable tale. In order to fully understand what we have just accomplished we must go back to where it began...