Acts of civil disobedience have become a near-daily occurrence at the construction sites of the Keystone XL pipeline, where protesters have taken to tying their bodies to equipment in order to stop construction on the southern leg of the 1,179 mile international tar sands pipeline.
In response to the uptick in nonviolent protests, TransCanada, the main company behind the project, filed a lawsuit Monday in Atoka County, Okla., seeking a temporary restraining order against the environmental activist group, Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance and 21 individuals involved in recent protests.
“The temporary restraining order we are seeking would protect our ability to construct the pipeline under the law,” TransCanada spokesman Jim Prescott was quoted by The Oklahoman as saying. “It also is an effort to respect landowners’ rights and the safety of the men and women who are building the safest pipeline system in America.”
The legal action follows the arrest of Bob Waldrop, a fourth-generation Oklahoman who on Monday became the latest individual to be arrested after walking onto an active construction site and locking himself to an excavator.
Environmentalists and landowners are concerned that the $7 billion project expected to transport at least 700,000 barrels of tar sands oil each day would cause irreparable harm to the environment.
“At least 1,500 people in total now have been arrested and those numbers will only increase,” Daniel Kessler, a spokesperson for the environmentalist group 350.org, told Mint Press News. “If the president decides to approve I expect massive resistance along the pipeline.”
The president and the State Department have not given final approval on Keystone XL, but could green light the project as early as this fall. Oil companies are projected to gain billions in revenue from the extraction, transportation and refining of the tar sands crude oil originating in Alberta.
“There is a reason that they are willing to put their bodies on the line. The long-term plan for the oil industry in Canada is to increase output to 9 million barrels a day. The pipeline is the key to facilitate that. Nine million barrels of the world’s dirtiest oil is something our world can’t handle,” Kessler said.
Despite the increase in protests, the public still mostly favors construction of the pipeline. According to a survey released by the Pew Research Center in April, 66 percent of Americans support building the pipeline. Twenty-three percent of respondents were opposed, with 11 percent holding no opinion.
Environmental groups contend that the multibillion dollar oil industry has the funding needed to run a persuasive PR campaign capable of swaying public opinion.
“There has never been an industry with more money than the oil industry. In the propaganda war the oil industry far outweighs the environmental community. TransCanada spent $300,000 last quarter lobbying for the Keystone XL pipeline. The top five oil companies made in excess of $150 billion last year. Exxon led the way with $45 billion,” Kessler said.
Toward this end, the oil and gas industry is attempting to make it difficult to even speak out publicly against drilling projects using footage from active sites.
Earlier this month, Pennsylvania Rep. Gary Haluska (D-Cambria) introduced House Bill 683, cracking down on the dissemination of audio or video taken at hydraulic fracturing sites.
The bill would make it a felony to take photos, video or audio on private land used for “agricultural purposes.” This would include downloading or distributing any recordings, and entering agricultural property if one plans on recording.