Protestors, Keystone XL Pipeline

"Occupy Earth" say the large letters posted in front of the White House. Thousands of protesters opposed to a controversial pipeline project surrounded the White House in Washington DC on Sunday, November 6, 2011. Canadian company TransCanada is seeking permission to build the 1,600-mile (2,700km) Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf coast in Texas. Environmental groups say that extracting oil from the sands would generate huge greenhouse gas emissions, and that any accident on the route could be disastrous. (Photo by Jeff Malet)

Keystone XL pipeline protest

Police arrested 65 environmentalists on August 20, 2011, outside the White House in Washington DC, as part of a demonstration urging President Obama to block the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would bring oil from Canada’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. The proposed $7 billion, 1,700 mile pipeline needs State Department approval to proceed, and the Obama administration plans to make a decision by the end of the year. This latest act of civil disobedience was the beginning of two weeks of White House demonstrations, with more arrests expected daily. Among those arrested on August 20 were Bill McKibben, the prominent climate activist and founder of 350.org; Gus Speth, whose career includes co-founding the Natural Resources Defense Council and chairing the White House Council on Environmental Quality in the Carter Administration; and Jane Hamsher, who founded the popular progressive blog Firedoglake. Signs in photo read "Climate Change is Not in Our National Interest" and "We Sit-In Against the XL Pipeline. Obama, Will You Stand Up to Big Oil?" (Photo by Jeff Malet)