UPDATED: Obama's Arrival Rallies Keystone XL Pipeline Protesters

Local Peninsula residents concerned about climate change will hold a rally opposing the Keystone XL pipeline on Thursday, beginning at 8:15 a.m. at the intersection of Alameda de las Pulgas and Valparaiso in Atherton. The location is on the uphill side of Valparaiso, near the fire station.       

Valparaiso will be closed on the Bay (north, lower) side of Alameda.  Reach the upper section of Alameda by going uphill (south) on Sharon or Avy and turning right on Altshul.  Valparaiso intersects with Altshul.

The purpose of the rally is to influence President Obama to refuse to approve the pipeline, which would bring crude oil from tar sands in Canada down to oil refineries on the Gulf coast. The President is expected to be at a fundraiser in a private residence near that intersection that morning.

A large rally against Keystone XL is also planned for Wednesday evening in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, for the same purpose.

The controversial pipeline has sparked strong opposition across the country, with major rallies and peaceful demonstrations in Washington, DC, San Francisco, and many other cities across the country taking place on Feb. 17. 

Opponents have multiple concerns about the pipeline, the greatest of which is acceleration of climate change due to the large amount of greenhouse gases that would be released into the atmosphere by the process of extracting the heavy-grade oil from the tar sands as well as by ultimate burning of the petroleum products that would be made from the tar sands oil. 

Leading climate scientists have said that continued emission of greenhouse gases at the present rate, let alone an increased rate, will lead to uncontrollable heating of the atmosphere and oceans world-wide.

The President is expected to make a decision by early summer about whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.  He refused to approve it in 2012, but may not refuse again.

There is a great deal of information online about the pipeline and the ongoing controversy surrounding it.  Some of the details can be found in this Wikipedia entry.

A pro-Keystone article can be found at The Energy Collective.

An anti-Keystone XL site can be found at Friends of the Earth.

The Huffington Post has a directory of articles pertaining to the project.

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