Thousands March on White House to Protest Climate Change

February 17, 2013

Thousands of protesters gathered outside the White House, to urge President Barack Obama to aggressively combat climate change.

Demonstrators formed a "human pipeline" Sunday, stretching from the National Mall to the White House, to protest an oil pipeline that would stretch across the United States, linking Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

They want President Obama to reject the nearly 3,000-kilometer Keystone XL Pipeline, saying its development would harm the environment and ultimately lead to greater greenhouse gas emissions. They also want the president to order U.S. authorities to set carbon standards for power plants.

"The people are upset at what's going on and he needs to actually pay attention to what the people want and not what the corporations want," said a protester named Leslie.

Local and national environmental groups organized what they hoped would be the largest climate rally in U.S. history.

"You are the antibodies kicking in as the planet tries to fight its fever," said protest organizer Bill McKibben.

The State Department is scheduled to release a new environmental impact statement on the pipeline project after authorities changed the planned construction path to bypass ecologically sensitive areas. But the project's future remains uncertain, following the president's renewed focus on climate change.