Dear 5849376, Registered nurses know you can't have healthy patients without a healthy planet. In my 40 years as a registered nurse, I've witnessed the devastating effect environmental pollution has had on children and families up close. And it's getting worse. From mining to transport to refining, dirty tar sands oil has already been linked to cancer, asthma, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, genetic damage, and birth defects. That's why nurses oppose the Keystone XL pipeline, and why I started a campaign on CREDOmobilize.com urging President Obama to reject it. Co-sign my letter to President Barack Obama, which says the following: Any project that places the health and safety of Americans at substantial risk cannot be in our national interest. I urge you to reject the Keystone XL pipeline due to the adverse health effects it would have, both on U.S. residents and people around the globe. Co-sign the letter from nurses telling President Obama to reject the dangerous Keystone XL pipeline. If approved, the Keystone XL pipeline would increase global greenhouse gas emissions and exacerbate the climate crisis, leading to countless threats to our health. Higher air temperatures can increase bacteria-related food poisoning, such as salmonella, and animal-borne diseases such as West Nile virus. Ground level ozone contaminants, which are increased by high temperatures, can damage lung tissue, reduce lung function, and increase respiratory ailments. Pediatricians have said they are already witnessing a rise in diseases including diarrhea, cholera, gastroenteritis, typhoid, and hepatitis due to climate change. Tar sands pipeline spills are also a significant concern. The 2010 Kalamazoo River spill in Michigan – the effects of which are still being felt by that community – resulted in inhalation of benzene and other chemicals and more than 150 cases of illness. Michigan's Department of Public Health identified cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, ocular, dermal and respiratory impacts. Refining raw bitumen from tar sands also makes people sick. Tar sands contains up to 11 times more sulfur than conventional crude oil with high levels of sulfur compounds linked to serious ailments of the nervous and respiratory systems. Residents of Southeast Texas, particularly refinery towns like Port Arthur and Houston, already live in known 'cancer zones.' Increased raw bitumen refining due to Keystone XL threatens to make a bad situation worse. Over the past 40 years, I've seen an alarming rise in asthma affecting small infants and people who don't have a history of respiratory ailments, and increasing cases of leukemia and other cancers linked to air and water pollution. Keystone XL would make the problem worse. Will you join me and add your name to my letter urging President Obama to reject the dangerous Keystone XL pipeline? Thank you for your support. Jean Ross | 
