Green groups to urge Clinton
to take a side on Keystone pipeline
By Laura Barron-Lopez - 05/20/14
06:40 PM EDT
A coalition of 30 green groups
will send a letter to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday, pressing her to publicly oppose the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The Hill obtained an early copy of
the letter and a press release, which asks Clinton if she will stand with them against
the oil-sands pipeline.
The Center for Biological
Diversity is one of the 30 conservation groups that signed on to the letter,
which will officially be sent to Clinton
on Wednesday.
"Secretary Clinton, will you
stand with us against Keystone XL?" the groups ask.
"Given your longstanding
advocacy for the environment and the importance of battling the climate crisis, your involvement would
lend an important voice to the struggle against this dangerous pipeline and in
favor of energy sources that don’t threaten future generations of
Americans," the letter states.
The added pressure on Clinton to take a side is
a taste of what the likely presidential hopeful has in store as 2016 draws
nearer.
"There’s no doubt that
Keystone XL is a turning point for President Obama and whoever takes his place
in 2016,” Bill Snape, senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity,
said in a press release provided to The Hill. “Secretary Clinton’s voice is
badly needed to help steer this decision in the right direction.”
Other groups that signed on
include 350.org, CREDO, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace. Notably absent from
the list of signatories is the Sierra
Club and Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC), among other big environmental groups.
NRDC federal communications Edwin
Chen said the group was approached in April about the letter but wanted to
remain focused on those who actually had a say in the decision-making process
at the State Department.
Still, staying quiet on the
contentious $5.4 billion project could hurt Clinton, even if President Obama makes a
decision long before she runs for office.
"We’re at a critical moment.
Please join us," the letter states at the end.
Coming out on the pipeline is
risky for the possible contender. On one hand it would give her an edge to
secure possible contributions from big players like billionaire climate
activist Tom Steyer, but it could
hurt her in the general election.
"Coming out strong against
Keystone XL gives Hillary a chance to show the climate movement that she stands
with us, and not the fossil fuel industry," May Boeve, executive director
of 350.org, said in joint press release compiled by the groups and provided to
The Hill.
The CEO of CREDO Mobile
adds that if Clinton
does not stand against Keystone XL, then "environmental voters will know
that she cannot be counted on in the fight against global warming.”
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Rodham
Clinton was the secretary at the U.S.
Department of State for the Barack
Obama administration, and is a principal at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Note: Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the Center for American Progress, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Tides Foundation, and the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a co-chair, national finance council at Ready for Hillary, was a supporter for the
Center for American Progress, the
chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Climate Reality Project, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Thomas
F. Steyer is a director at the Center
for American Progress, and was a fundraiser for the 2008 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, and the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign.
Wendy
Schmidt is a trustee at the Natural
Resources Defense Council, and the president & co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation.
Schmidt
Family Foundation was a funder for the Tides
Foundation, the Natural Resources
Defense Council, and the Sierra Club.
James Gustave
Speth is a trustee at the Natural
Resources Defense Council, and a director at the Climate Reality Project.
Carol M. Browner
was director at the Climate Reality
Project, the energy czar for the Barack
Obama administration, and is a senior fellow, director for the Center for American Progress.
Thomas
F. Steyer is a director at the Center
for American Progress.
Brent
Scowcroft was a director at the Climate
Reality Project, and is the interim chairman; for the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
Susan
E. Rice was a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), a senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), the former U.S. ambassador to UN for the Barack Obama administration, is the White
House national security adviser for the Barack
Obama administration, and a stockholder in the TransCanada Corporation.
TransCanada
Corporation is the proposed builder for the Keystone XL pipeline, and a SKDKnickerbocker
client.
Anita
B. Dunn is a managing director at SKDKnickerbocker,
married to Robert F. Bauer, was the communications
director for the Barack Obama
administration, and produced ad campaign for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Robert
F. Bauer is married to Anita B. Dunn,
was the White House counsel for the Barack
Obama administration, and Barack
Obama’s personal counsel.
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