Today, I woke up to some incredible news. TransCanada — the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline — just announced that it’s cancelling its other highly controversial tar sands pipeline, Energy East, taking an estimated billion dollar loss.
The proposed $12.5 billion dollar Energy East pipeline would have transported up to 1.1 million barrels of crude tar sands oil daily from Alberta across Eastern Canada.
TransCanada’s decision to scrap the controversial East Energy pipeline is a huge victory for the First Nations, workers, and activists that have resisted this project for years. It’s a victory that should be shared by all of us that continue to stand up to reckless tar sands expansion and these senseless, dirty pipeline proposals. These tar sands pipelines across North America, like Keystone XL, Line 3, and Kinder Morgan’s TransMountain pipeline, threaten our communities, drinking water, Indigenous sovereignty and human rights, and our fight against climate change. Each of these proposed projects will continue to be met with strong criticism and peaceful resistance.
Key investors in these projects like JPMorgan Chase should pay close attention: funding these pipelines — which compromise our climate and precious water resources and threaten human rights — will continue to be a moral, ethical, and financial liability.
Greenpeace, alongside a powerful coalition of Tribes, First Nations, community groups, other environmental organizations, and landowners, have called on the major banks backing tar sands pipelines to commit once and for all to end their funding and financial relationship with these dirty pipeline projects.
Earlier this summer, we put JPMorgan Chase, the key backer of these projects in the US, on notice to defund tar sands pipelines. Throughout the Summer of Resistance, supporters like you signed petitions to Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, and hosted rallies outside of JPMorgan Chase bank branches. We even welcomed Jamie Dimon to Denver with a massive protest outside of the Chase building. The people power is growing!
LIVE: Activists at JPMorgan Chase HQ's in Denver to demand that they stop funding fossil fuels and climate disasters! #DefundPipelines pic.twitter.com/r3taIIhEPy
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) September 26, 2017
#SummerOfResistance @Greenpeace "Piper" – Long Black Snake representing dirty Tar Sands Oil Pipelines Chase funds – at Indianapolis action pic.twitter.com/QKrdtc2g6X
— Bruce Russell-Jayne (@Brusselljayne) August 23, 2017
Just yesterday, we took our message to the front door of JPMorgan Chase’s global headquarters in New York City where we delivered over 84,000 petition signatures to CEO Jamie Dimon. We demand that JPMorgan Chase stop funding these pipelines and listen to the people.
Earlier TODAY we delivered 84k signatures to Chase telling them to #defundtarsands! You can still sign! >> https://t.co/VxyiudYL91 pic.twitter.com/c6UsWxhSZ6
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) October 4, 2017
We know that we can and must defeat each and every one of these tar sands pipelines. This movement is growing stronger, with tens of thousands of people joining their voices in protest and opposition to the expansion of extreme energy. That is why Greenpeace is joining the Mazaska Talks day of action at the end of the month to #DivestTheGlobe. With today’s victory fresh in our minds, let’s continue to resist these pipeline with everything we have got!
