Jimmy Carter To Obama: Don’t Approve Keystone XL Pipeline

FILE - In this Monday, March 24, 2014, file photo, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter speaks during an interview, in New York. On the “Late Show with David Letterman” Monday, March 24, 2014, Carter said the Cri... FILE - In this Monday, March 24, 2014, file photo, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter speaks during an interview, in New York. On the “Late Show with David Letterman” Monday, March 24, 2014, Carter said the Crimean annexation was “inevitable’ because Russia considers it to be part of their country and so many Crimeans consider themselves Russian. He also said Russian President Vladimir Putin shouldn’t be permitted to go any further. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) MORE LESS
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Former President Jimmy Carter on Tuesday came out against the Keystone XL pipeline in a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, urging them to oppose construction.

“You stand on the brink of making a choice that will define your legacy on one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced — climate change,” reads the letter from Carter and nine other Nobel Peace Prize recipients. “As you deliberate the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, you are poised to make a decision that will signal either a dangerous commitment to the status quo, or bold leadership that will inspire millions counting on you to do the right thing for our shared climate.”

Carter is the first former president to announce his opposition to the controversial pipeline. Both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have said they would support construction, according to the Washington Post.

The Keystone pipeline would export crude oil from tar sands in Canada to American refineries.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney last week said that Obama would not establish a hard deadline for his decision on the pipeline, despite a letter from a group of Senate Democrats urging the President to approve the pipeline by the end of May.

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