On July 1 an ExxonMobil oil pipeline running under the Yellowstone River near Billings, MT ruptured, dumping massive amounts of oil into the river. Critics of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline—that would carry oil from the Tar Sands pits of Alberta to refineries along the Gulf Coast—point to this accident as one more reason why the Keystone XL Pipeline should be stopped. On this episode of Locus Focus we talk about the catastrophic convergence (to borrow a phrase from last week's guest Christian Parenti) bearing down on the Rocky Mountain states as the oil industry gears up its agenda to industrialize the pristine mountains and rivers of the region, with guests Zack Porter—campaign director for All Against the Haul in Missoula and Dena Hoff—a farmer who lives near the proposed XL Pipeline route in Montana.
Zack Porter is the campaign coordinator for All Against the Haul, a homegrown, four-state effort working to stop the construction of a permanent industrial corridor for massively oversized loads to the Alberta Tar Sands through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
Dena Hoff and her husband Alvin have farmed for 31 years on the Yellowstone River six miles west of Glendive, Mt. She is the past chair of the Northern Plains Resource Council, current Vice-President of the National Family Farm Coalition, and co-coordinator of the North American Region of La Via Campesina.
- KBOO