Be served only if this project is not significantly exacerbate the problem of Carbon Pollution. Was president obama in june. Now a state Department Report is play down the impact the pipeline would have on Climate Change. Should president obama approved the keystone xl . We will host a debate. Then we go to michigan where three climate activist are facing up to two years in prison for taking part in a direct action against the construction of another pipeline. Finally, one billion rising. I just want you to imagine today when you dance, when you put your bodies on the ground, when you put your feet on the mother, when you move your hips, move your body, when you move your soul, that we are literally dancing up the will of the world to end violence against women and girls. Actions are being planned to more than 200 countries on february 14 to end rape and Sexual Violence against women. We will speak with one billion rising founder eve ensler and kimberle crenshaw. All of that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A longawaited report from the state department has dealt a potential major blow to efforts to stop the Keystone Xl Oil pipeline. In Impact Assessment released friday says the pipelines Northern Light would not have a major impact on Climate Change. In a speech last year, president obama said his approval of the project will be contingent upon assuring the does not significantly exacerbate the problem of Carbon Pollution. The proposed pipeline would transport 83,000 barrels of crude every day from Alberta Oil Sands to refineries on the u. S. Gulf coast to which opponents they will have a devastating impact on the planet. The white house says it has yet to make a decision and will await additional feedback from federal agencies. In washington, state spokesperson said the pipeline review will not be open to comments from the public. There is no deadline for secretary john kerry to make a decision and there is a 30 day Public Comment period after the release comments from the public. Only one factor in a determination that will way many other factors as well. And for secretary kerry, climate and environment priorities will of course be part of his decisionmaking. In a statement, coalition of environmental groups said the report should prompt a wave of protest to stop the pipeline, saying this is an all hands on deck moment to send a message to president obama that keystone xl fails its climate test and he must reject it. A new round of antipipeline visuals begins today. We will host a debate after the headlines. President obama met with top executives friday to promote hiring of the long term unemployed. The white house says the nations Unemployment Rate has been worsened by discrimination against those who have been without a job for over six months. Obama said he would issue an executive order to enhance protections for those who applied to work for the federal government. We having gauged employers of all sizes all around the country , including many who are here today, to commit to a set of hiring policies for making sure recruiting and screening practices dont disadvantage folks who have been out of work to establishing an open door policy that actively encourages all qualified applicants. And, of course, it is only right the federal government lead by example. Today, i am directing ever federal agency to make sure we are evaluating candidates on the level without regard to their implement history. He does every job applicant deserves a fair shot. The first syrian peace talks ended friday with little progress between the alassad regime and the opposition. U. N. Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said the two sides will reconvene after a oneweek rate if the steering government agrees to attend. I suggested would resume on the basis of a green agenda that were going to prepare and send to them, that we meet on february 10 post of the delegation of opposition agreed to this date. The government said they needed to consult with damascus first. Progress is very slow indeed, but the sides have engaged in an acceptable manner. Overtivist in syria said 150 people have died in a weekend of attacks by Government Forces in the Northern City of aleppo. Syrian government helicopters have been hitting aleppo for weeks with highly destructive barrel bombs oil drums filled with explosives and sometimes with nails or scrap metal. The londonbased syrian observatory for human rights says most of the victims have been civilians. A former rebel commander in el salvador has finished first in the countrys president ial election in a setting up a runoff vote next month. Salvador Sanchez Ceren took 48. 9 of the vote, just shy of the 50 needed to avoid a second round. He will square off against right wing candidate norman quijano, who placed second with just under 39 . Sanchez ceren agenda mass of the chapel were awesome were Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated by u. S. Backed death squads in 1980 just before sundays vote. Acquitted of all charges after over six months behind bars. He is one of a number of journalists who have been imprisoned since the military overthrew former president Mohammed Morsi in july. His Attorney Says he expects them to be released. Around 20 al jazeera journalists still face trial. In a statement friday, the u. S. High commissioner for human rights for his alarm over what it calls an increasingly severe clampdown and physical attacks on egyptian journalists. Former aide official claiming governor Chris Christie knew about the closures of liens leading to the George Washington bridge when they occurred. The official David Wildstien help coordinate the closures with the top christie eight when he worked at the Port Authority last year. Governor christie has denied having any knowledge, saying he only found out when the scandal broke open last month. But in a new statement, wildstein says evidence exists governor christie was aware that time, contrary to his public statements. Wildstein is seeking legal immunity as well as Port Authoritybacking for his attorneys fees and the probes surrounding the case. In a statement, the Christie Administration denied wildsteins claims, saying hes only looking for the Port Authority to pay his legal bills. The Christie Administration faces a deadline of today to comply with a subpoena for handing over documents to a state legislative investigation. Telephone is facing a major drought that is frightening Water Supplies across the state. California is facing a major threatening is Water Supplies across the state. California saw less rainfall last year than in any other since the coming estate in 1850. An undocumented immigrant who won the right to practice law has been sworn into the california state bar. California Supreme Court ruled Sergio Garcia can practice law last month after a fouryear court battle. Mercy a is brought to be was at the age of 17 months. After his swearingin, garcia said he hopes his case will open doors in other states. Were super excited that my case inspires across the nation. Whether you are being blessed of being born in this country or not. Be legallyannot hired by an employer, but he says he plans to open his own law firm. Drug reform advocates are calling on president obama to use his executive authority to reclassify marijuana in line with his own recently stated views. In an interview with the new yorker magazine last month, obama said he does not think marijuana is more dangerous than our all and call for treating it as a problem of public health. s jake tapper asked obama if that would lead to a shift in policy. You. Smoking pot was a bad habit be did not think it was any wars for a person been drinking. That contradicts the official Obama Administration policy both on the website of the office of National Drug control policy and also the fact that marijuana is considered a schedule one narcotic along with heroin and ecstasy. Do you think maybe were talking a little too casually about it or are you considering not making marijuana the schedule one narcotic . First of all, what is and isnt a schedule one narcotic is a job for congress i think it is the dea. It is not something by ourselves we start changing. There are laws that make this determination. Despite obamas claim that mayor won a status is up to congress, both the Drug Enforcement administration and the attorney general have the authority to reclassify. In a statement, the medical Marijuana Group americans for safe access said and the actor Philip Seymour offman has died at the age 46. He reportedly died of a heroin overdose. He had previously struggled with addiction before going sober for over two decades and then having relapse that sent him into rehab last year. He was one of the most celebrated actors of his generation on stage and screen, winning a best Actor Academy award in 2006 for the film capote. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The Obama Administration is saying it has still not decided on whether he will approve the construction of the keystone xl pipeline despite a new report laying down the impact the pipeline would have on Climate Change. On friday, state Department Said blocking keystone xl would do little to slow the expansion of canadas vast oil sands. And that it would not significantly exacerbate the problem of Greenhouse Gas emissions. The proposed pipeline would transport 83,000 barrels of crude every day from operatives oilsands to refineries on the was gulf coast. And scientiststs have long warned about the devastating impact of further Oil Extraction from the tar sands in alberta. Hansen, one of the countrys foremost climate scientists, said essentially, it is game over for the planets. On sunday, the white house chief of staff appeared on meet the press and was questioned about the pipeline. Here are few newsy items, one has to do with the Keystone Pipeline and the ability to move all of that oil down to the middle of the country. Republicans have been calling for this. A report from the state department saying theres no real impact on the science. Is this thing ready to be greenlighted by the president . What would hold him back from saying yes, the keystone should go forward . He laid out his view last summer, which is, it should not significantly exacerbate the Climate Crisis in this country. Didnt the state department answer that and say it wont . We will hear from other cabinet secretaries. What would stop him from saying yes given his own state department saying there is not a big impact on the climate from doing this . He has been clear he will insulate this from politics. I didnt ask about politics. You have a state department we have once that he and now we have we have one to promote the study and we have others now. The president wants to protect their ability to make this decision based on the best analysis and most sound science. White house chief of staff appearing on meet the press on sunday. To talk more about the keystone xl pipeline, were joined by erich pica and cindy schild. Lets begin with you, cindy schild, your response to the state Department Report. We certainly see it as promising and a good indication of where the administration should go in their approval over the next few months. At this point we have spent five years reviewing the Environmental Impact time and time again, despite the five assessments and most transparent and thorough process to date on anything of it nature. We have seen the same conclusions. Minimal impacts, note eligible impact, the environmental answer them a and concerns have been addressed. This is one factor to be considered among several and it is time to determine that the project in the nations interest. We can appreciate the politics. Quite frankly, as clearly what has been happening here we can appreciate the pressure the administration and the president are under, but when you look at at facts and the science, this point, really, theres nothing left to determine but that it is in the interest of American Consumers and our nation to approve this project. Erich pica, you have a very different view. Absolutely. This is perhaps one of the most studied pipelines in u. S. History. The problem is, the state department has been hiring Oil Consultants to actually assess the pipeline. We have been doing a significant amount of study on the contract of Environmental Resource Management who failed to disclose many of the relationships with organizations and companies such as transcanada and American Petroleum institute that want this pipeline constructed. It is really no wonder that the state department comes out saying theres minimal Environmental Impact and that is going to be contested. The contractor that wrote this actually is a pipeline advocate. Who is it . Environmental Resource Management or erm for short. Had in was a concern you an earlier assessment that was done that embarrassed the administration. Why hasnt this changed . Absolutely. We had exposed the fact that the original contractor three years ago put together the first Environmental Impact statement, we had done some investigation and actually spurred an Inspector General report. They threw out the old eis. Now you have erm and you stop the state department would have learned a need to do better vetting of contractors, while through research erm failed to disclose on the conflict of interest forms that they had worked for transcanada over the last three years, that they were associated with organizations that advocated for the pipeline, including api, who is on today, thats been 69 dollars on lobbying in 2013. 6m in them that spent million on lobbying in 2013. The cards a been stacked against them in the state Department Environmental review process. Cindy schild, what about the conflict of interest . Thank you, thank you, i have been chomping at the bit to respond. First of all, the first investigation that youre discussing, what was the outcome of that . Theres no wrongdoing. The next one, which we are about to see soon, i expect to see the same thing. If i am going to have an assessment conducted, a proper evaluation of something so significant, i was some and involve that has experience, that has knowledge of the industry, its operations, and the concerns to look for. I dont want somebody that builds bridges to assess the pipeline project. Theyre going to have experience. If you look on our website, it is fully disclosed as far as the fact they have some experience with us. Anyone who is going to assess the project is going to have a relationship or a history working with the industry. What i would like to ask about is the disclosure that came out actually confirming the emails about the negotiations to kill the project with epa officials, senior epa officials, and some interest groups. That is a fact. While yet to date, the most transparent process in the history of pipeline approval, yes, this is perhaps the most thorough assessment, absolutely the most thorough assessment. Time and time again, the findings are the same. Again, if we are going to move forward and look at where we are, this has job potential economic, Energy Security from canada and the u. S. That is where we should be focusing the conversation. Erich pica, what about that . Consulting firm that has experience with an oil pipeline to do this assessment for the state department . You need to get the right people to assess the pipeline. The problem is, erm light on the concert conflict of interest statements. This is not about their ability to assess, but whether or not they are truthful. This has spurred another Inspector General report, which we are expecting, hopefully, quite soon. They lied about this. We did a quick search and the numerous conflicts the western energy alliance, the american fuel petrochemical manufacturers for Louisiana Midcontinent Oil and Gas Association the state Petroleum Association all are advocating for this pipeline. In the last one, they have two Board Members of erm, sit on that board and the have the American Petroleum institute and they failed to disclose the fact they worked on transcanada projects within the last three years,