More than 200 Eckerd College students join pipeline protest at White House

WASHINGTON — More than 200 Eckerd College students joined thousands of protesters outside the White House on Sunday in a boisterous attempt to pressure the Obama administration against approving a controversial oil pipeline.

"I don't think the pros outweigh the cons," said Shane Farrell, 21, a senior at the St. Petersburg college. "They're telling us that there's going to be energy security and it's going to make gas cheaper for us. But we just haven't seen that in the numbers."

As he spoke, scores of young activists held signs and chanted, "Stop the pipeline, yes we will," a play on President Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" mantra that appealed to college students in the 2008 election.

At issue is the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada's oil sands to refineries in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas. Because it crosses an international border, it requires Obama's approval.

Proponents are touting jobs and additional energy supplies, but environmentalists have mounted a forceful campaign to stop the project. More than 8,000 protesters showed up Sunday — exactly one year from the presidential election — and formed a ring around the White House.

"The promise of jobs is false. They're short-term," asserted Devon Williams, 20, a junior at Eckerd. She said if Obama does not stop the project, she may sit out the election — a threat shared by some of her classmates.

"If he's not receptive to what we have to say, why should we campaign for him?" Farrell asked.

The students said they became interested in the issue after Bill McKibben, an environmental activist, gave a speech at the college last month. They rounded up about 230 classmates, boarded vans and a charter bus and arrived Saturday afternoon.

The transportation cost was picked up by the Eckerd student government as well as the organization behind TarSandsAction.org, Farrell said. Students slept Saturday night in churches, dorm rooms and with friends.

"My biggest problem with this is it's not just an environmental injustice; it's a social injustice as well," said Wyatt Sugrue, 18, a freshman at Eckerd. "The pipeline affects us all."