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I came to NRDC in 1981 and have worked with NRDC’s International Program for the last 20 years. A common thread in my work has been Canada. When I first came to NRDC, I worked with Canadians to stem acid rain. Starting in the 1990s, I worked closely with Canadian organizations and First Nations to protect its beautiful ancient forests — from the coastal rainforests of British Columbia to the Boreal forest that circles the top of the planet. Thanks to NRDC members and activists, we were able to engage Home Depot and other major companies to become advocates for protecting these forests and NRDC adopted the Great Bear Rainforest's Spirit Bear as its logo.
For the last five years, I have worked with our team on stemming the expansion of the Alberta tar sands, where a beautiful blue-green forest of wetlands and trees is being torn up to feed our relentless thirst for oil. We've been leading the campaign to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, a pipeline from the tar sands region to the Gulf Coast that would expand extraction of this dirty oil and imperil the American breadbasket and aquifer waters. We have better alternatives in conservation and alternative fuels. See our site at stopdirtyfuels.org and take action at stoptar.org.
Recent Posts
Posted April 19, 2013 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- climatechange, dirtyfuels, keystonexl, oilsands, statedepartment, tarsands
The massive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, under review by the State Department, would be one of the largest pipelines in the country, carrying nearly ten times the dirty crude that erupted from a failed pipeline in Arkansas earlier this...continued→
Posted April 27, 2012 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- dirtyfuels, keystonexl, Ogallala, oilsands, tarsands, TransCanada, transportationbill
In today’s Politico, the former chief logistician responsible for moving troops in Iraq, Retired Brigadier General Steven M. Anderson, in a piece entitled, "Keystone feeds dangerous addiction", calls on all politicians to make weaning ourselves off oil a top priority....continued→
Posted March 9, 2012 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- climatechange, climatescience, dirtyfuels, extremeweather, keystonexl, oilsands, severeweather, tarsands
House in Trussville, Alabama destroyed by a recent tornado, February 2012, Photo Credit: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) More Americans than ever believe that climate change is responsible for the strange weather they see around them. A recent poll...continued→
Posted March 6, 2012 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- canada, china, dirtyfuels, hoevenamendment, keystonexl, oilsands, pembinainstitute, tarsands
When the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline permit was rejected in January, the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Calgary expressed “deep disappointment” in the decision and commented on the need for Canada to “diversify its energy exports ”. This...continued→
Posted February 9, 2012 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- Cardnoentrix, dirtyfuels, keystonexl, oilsands, statedepartment, statedepartmentinspectorgeneral, stoptar, tarsands, TransCanada
“The appearance of this . . . needs to be cleaner” (unnamed State Department official in IG report) In a report sent to Congressional offices today, the State Department Inspector General found that the environmental review of the Keystone XL...continued→
Posted February 4, 2012 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- dirtyfuels, keystonexl, nationaljournal, oilsands, polls, rasmussen, stoptar, tarsands
First of all, you won’t find tar sands mentioned in any of the polling. And in most polls, you won’t even find oil. It’s just the Keystone XL pipeline, no context, no mention of what it will carry, and certainly...continued→
Posted January 18, 2012 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- dirtyfuels, keystonexl, obama, oilsands, stoptar, tarsands
The great pipeline showdown has backfired on the Republican leadership, just as we predicted it would back in December when they forced a 60-day time-frame for approving or rejecting the pipeline on the President during the tax extension negotiations. The...continued→
Posted December 17, 2011 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- dirtyfuels, keystonexl, Obama, oilsands, policyriders, riders, tarsands, taxextension, transcanada
In a huge overreach, Senate Republicans insisted yesterday that a provision that would require the President to make a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline be included in the tax extension package. The package is likely to be voted on...continued→
Posted December 7, 2011 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- dirtyfuels, harper, keystonexl, lugarbill, obama, oilsands, tarsands, terrybill
Today, the President – in a question and answer session with reporters after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Harper – made it clear he is not backing down from his decision last month to take another year to...continued→
Posted November 17, 2011 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- clinton, dirtyfuels, historykeystonexl, keystonexl, Mckibben, obama, oilsands, tarsands, TransCanada
TransCanada pipes lay stacked and ready to go in advance of securing permit (photo by Dakota Rural Action, Nov 2011) In 2008, the Canadian company TransCanada proposed a nearly 2,000 mile pipeline that would bisect the heartland of...continued→
Posted November 6, 2011 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- dirtyfuels, keystonexl, november6rally, obama, oilsands, tarsands, transcanada
photo by David Hawkins; see our video and slideshow here One year from the Presidential election, over 10,000 citizens encircled the mile and a quarter circumference of the White House three times around with lots of people to spare. They had...continued→
Posted October 18, 2011 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- dirtyfuels, greatplains, keystonexl, obama, ogallala, oilsands, Robertredford, sandhills, tarsands
In a New York Times video opinion piece posted today, Robert Redford gives an impassioned pitch to the President to deny the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. In a three minute interview, interspersed with beautiful images of the Great...continued→
Posted October 7, 2011 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- clinton, dirtyfuels, keystonexl, oilsands, statedepartment, tarsands
Today, the State Department held its final hearing on whether or not the massive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is in our "national interest". The Secretary of State must make this affirmative finding before permitting the pipeline. The hall was crowded...continued→
Posted October 3, 2011 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- clinton, cornellgloballaborinstitute, keystonexl, nebraska, newyorktimes, ogallala, oilsands, tarsands, transcanada
Homemade signs in Nebraska near site of hearing. Photo credit: Jane Kleeb. The U.S. State Department has said it will make a decision on the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by the end of the year. Because the...continued→
Posted September 7, 2011 by Liz Barratt-Brown in Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- dirtyfuels, keystonexl, nobellaureates, obama, oilsands, tarsands
“It is your decision to make” That is how the strongly worded letter to the President from nine Nobel Laureates starts. The letter urges the President to deny the permit for a massive tar sands pipeline that would run from...continued→
