National Nurses United

4 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 M A R C H 2 0 1 4 NEWS BRIEFS NATIONAL O ne of the few healthcare unions to make the link between the Keystone XL pipeline and major public health hazards to patients, National Nurses Unit- ed nurses stepped up their protests against the tar sands pipeline this spring. NNU called on Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama Administration to issue a finding that the Keystone XL "will not adversely impact the health and safety of the American people" prior to any final deci- sion on the controversial project. RN leaders sent a formal request on March 13 to Kerry and issued the public letter in a Washington, D.C. press confer- ence convened by U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer who chairs the Senate Committee on Envi- ronment and Public Works. The NNU letter endorsed a similar request made by Sen. Boxer and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. In its letter, NNU said it concurs with Boxer and Whitehouse that the State Department has done inadequate review of what appears to be serious risks for public health posed by the pipeline and the dirty tar sands oil it would carry. Noting that the State Department must make a national interest determination on whether to approve the pipeline, NNU said that it believes that "a project that places the health and safety of Americans at substantial risk cannot possibly be in our national interest." NNU announced its opposition to Keystone in early 2013, citing harmful health hazards then emerging with tar sands oil, tar sands pipeline spills, and tar sands refining, as well as for the long-term contribution tar sands and Keystone add to the climate crisis. Since that time, tar sands mining pollu- tants have been linked to cancer, leukemia, genetic damage, and birth defects. Tar sands refining has also been linked to serious ailments of the nervous and respiratory systems. NNU is concerned about toxic dust storms that have threatened neighborhoods and accumulated in homes and areas where children play in Chicago and Detroit. Tar sands pipeline spills in Michigan and Arkansas have beset local residents with cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurologi- cal, and respiratory impacts, as well as persistent coughs, headaches, nausea, eye and skin problems. NNU is also concerned about the long- term contribution that tar sands oil and the Keystone XL pipeline will make to the global rise on greenhouse gas emissions and the climate crisis—and the growing adverse health issues inflamed by climate change. "Nurses and our families are also affected by environmental pollution, and have much at stake if Keystone XL is given the green light," said Karen Higgins, a Massachusetts RN and a member of the NNU Council of Presidents, at the press conference. "It is for our patients, our members, our families, and our communities that we speak out, and call on the Administration to order an immedi- ate health impact study and not authorize a pipeline that will harm our planet and our health."— Staff report Nurses say, "Don't pipeline my patients!" Nurses continue to educate and mo bilize the public against the Keystone XL pipeline. For more information, and to watch a fun video featuring what RNs have to say about the pipeline, please visit www.nationalnursesunited.org/nokxl.

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