Let's rally to send farmers, ranchers & tribal members to REJECT + PROTECT

<!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?--> Friends,

Thank you so much for your generous contributions to the Reject and Protect action in Washington DC. The Cowboy Indian Alliance will be riding into town just as President Obama is making up his mind on Keystone XL, and your support will help make this event one to remember. 

I wanted to share some photos from the Rosebud Sioux ’Shield the People’ spiritual camp which was set up along the pipeline route near Ideal, South Dakota last weekend. These are many of the folks who will be coming to DC for the action, and gives you a preview of what this action will look like when it gets to DC. 

Check this out: 

With his decision closer than ever, President Obama must know what is truly at stake, and see once more the power of the alliances that have turned Keystone XL into a turning point for our movements, and for our future. 

The Cowboy and Indian Alliance  (C.I.A) brings together tribal communities with ranchers and farmers living along the Keystone XL pipeline proposed route. Farmers and ranchers know the risk first-hand. They work the land every day. Tribes know the risk first-hand. They protect the sacred water, and defend sacred sites of their ancestors every day. They have united out of love and respect for the land and water on which we all depend.

This is not the first time Cowboys and Indians have come together to stop projects that risk our land and water. In the 80s, they came together to protect water and the Black Hills from uranium mining and risky munitions testing. In the American imagination, cowboys and Indians are still at odds. However, in reality, opposition to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has brought communities together like few causes in our history.  Tribes, farmers and ranchers are all people of the land, who consider it their duty as stewards to conserve the land and protect the water for future generations.

The C.I.A. asks President Obama a simple question: Is an export pipeline for dirty tar sands worth risking our sacred land and water for the next seven generations?

On June 25, 2013, President Obama said, “Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.” Anyone with common sense knows the Keystone XL pipeline would exacerbate the climate crisis: an 830,000 barrel per day pipeline filled with tar sands and chemicals like benzene will make it easier for tar sands companies to dig up and burn more of the world’s dirtiest oil than they could with any other feasible alternative.

Our actions next month will show President Obama that we are living up to his call to “be the change we wish to see,” and that we stand with him to say no to Big Oil. Together we will make a clear promise that if President Obama goes back on his word and approves the Keystone XL pipeline, he will be met with the fiercest resistance from our Alliance and our allies from all walks of life. Bryan Brewer, President of the Oglala Sioux, speaks for us when he says, “We are ready to fight the pipeline, and our horses are ready.”

Please join us this April to tell President Obama to Reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and protect our land, water, and climate. 

-The Cowboy Indian Alliance