National Nurses United

J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 11 W ith the clock tick- ing down on a final decision by the Obama administra- tion on Keystone XL, it's time to update why National Nurses United is opposed to a project that looks more like a pathway to pollution than a gateway to our gas pumps. Citing the threat to public health and how the project would hasten the climate crisis, nurses have been on the front line of protests against Keystone, a 1,700-mile pipeline that would transport 830,000 barrels of dirty tar sands oil every day from Alberta, Canada to U.S. Gulf Coast refiner- ies, largely for export. Here are 10 reasons why: 1. No jobs on a dead planet More jobs are certainly needed, but even the just-concluded State Department assessment conceded Keystone would support only 35 post-construction jobs. Infrastructure repair and promoting a green economy is a far better solution for the jobs crisis than a project that NASA scientist and climate expert James Hanson famously calls "game over" on the climate front. If the threshold issue is jobs, nurses should support the pipeline as a full employ- ment act in terms of the volume of addition- al patients sickened by the pipeline's health hazards and toll from accelerated climate change. But nurses see an inseparable link between environmental justice and the health of our communities and planet. 2. Don't drink the water From the ground to the pipe to the refineries, Keystone's tar sands oil, with its thick, dirty, corrosive properties, pose a far greater hazard than conventional oil—a major reason for NNU and nurse opposi- tion. Toxic contaminants in the massive water needed for extraction are infecting clean water supplies with towns nearby Alberta experiencing spikes in cancer deaths, renal failure, lupus, and hyperthyroidism. Huge pipeline spills near Marshall, Mich. and Mayflower, Ark. have led to respiratory ailments and other health ills. Pollutants from tar sands refineries are linked to heart and lung disease, asthma, and cancer. 3. And don't breathe the air Mounds of petcoke, the carbon residue of tar sands refining, piled up for export for burning, have produced toxic dust storms that have left area residents gasping near Detroit, Chicago, and other locales. Canadi- an scientists are also alarmed at mercury "wafting" into the air from tar sands produc- tion which, in chronic exposure, have been linked to brain damage. 4. An asthma nation Nurses see an explosion of asthma suffer- ers, especially children. More than 40 percent of Americans now live in areas slammed by air pollution with levels of particle pollution that can also cause higher incidents of heart attacks and premature death. Keystone will multiply carbon emissions and speed up climate change, resulting in more polluted air, higher air temperatures, which can also increase bacteria-related food poisoning, such as salmonella, and animal-borne diseases such as West Nile virus. 5. The gathering storms In the last year alone, we've seen the worst cyclone ever to hit landfall, fueled by subsurface ocean temperatures 9 degrees above normal, the largest tornado ever recorded, record droughts, and other unprecedented weather anomalies. While some discount the link to climate change, there's no dispute that the past decade was the hottest on record. Nurses, as our RNRN volunteers can attest, treat this human collateral damage, thousands of patients affected by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the Philippines, for example, who endured life-threatening injuries and loss of their homes and liveli- hoods. 6. The carbon bomb All workers and their families live in the same communities affected by the climate crisis and the pipeline health hazards. Despite naysayers who insist there is no environmental justification to block it, there is as much scientific consensus on Keystone as there is on the human hand behind the climate crisis, or the factual evidence of evolution. In addition to Hanson, who calls Keystone "the biggest carbon bomb on the planet," dozens of other prominent scientists signed a 2013 letter stating "the actual and potential environmental damage [are] suffi- ciently severe to reject Keystone to protect the climate, human health, and the multiple ecosystems this project threatens." In simple terms, Keystone would gener- ate the carbon emission equivalent of 40 million more cars or 50 coal-fired power plants every year. RoseAnn DeMoro Executive Director, National Nurses United Human Health Hazard 10 Reasons to Oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline (Continued on page 15)

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