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President Barack Obama announced yesterday that his administration is rejecting the Keystone XL Tarsands pipeline planned from Alberta, Canada, to the US Gulf Coast. Activists are declaring a cautious victory over the rejection of the 1,700 mile pipeline project which attracted some of the largest protests in the history of environmental movement last year. Mass public opposition to the pipeline is based on the fact that it would have cut across the United States, particularly under the nation’s largest aquifer, with the likelihood of numerous and disastrous future leaks all but guaranteed. The tarsands pipeline was also projected to significantly accelerate the emission of greenhouse gas-driven climate change. The Obama administration’s rejection is based on the fact that no alternate pipeline route was proposed, and that the environmental impact was not properly assessed in justifying the State Department’s rejection of the final permit. The President said in a statement, “[t]he rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment.” However, the State Department also issued a statement leaving open the door for future motion on the pipeline, saying: “the …denial of the permit application does not preclude any subsequent permit application or applications for similar projects.” Meanwhile, Lt. Dan Choi, one of many people arrested in protest of the tarsands pipeline last August, will go to trial on Monday January 24th. He is one of only three people of all those arrested, who is facing trial. Choi is perhaps best known for his public opposition to the now defunct Don’t Ask Don’t Tell military policy and has been outspoken on a number of progressive issues.

GUESTS: Kim Huynh, Federal Dirty Fuels Campaigner with Friends of the Earth, Lt. Dan Choi, Iraq war veteran, discharged from the Army under the now defunct Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, one of several people arrested last August during protests against the Keystone XL pipeline in DC.

Visit www.foe.org and www.350.org for more information. Follow Dan Choi @ twitter.com/ltdanchoi.