A group of environmental activists in Nebraska worked for days to create a massive anti-Keystone XL Pipeline message to President Barack Obama, and the impressive piece of work was made possible by an oil-powered 1978 John Deere tractor.
A Lincoln Star Journal report notes that the John Deere tractor was used in addition to rakes and shovels to create the warning to Obama that his "climate legacy" must include a rejection of the pipeline.
Inside the giant seal are the words "Climate Legacy" and "#NoKXL," reminding Obama that his decision on granting a permit for TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline across an international border will become part of the story of his time in office.
"We worked for days in the field, on land directly in the path of this risky tar sands pipeline, to send the president a message that his climate legacy must include a rejection of Keystone XL," Tanderup said. "I am a farmer who has taken climate action by installing solar panels and water sensors and adopting sustainable practices like no-till. I urge the president to stand with the people of the heartland and to honor his climate legacy by saying no to Keystone." [...]
Workers used a 1978 John Deere tractor, shovels and rakes to create the design over eight days. The black contrast is landscape paper, the green is rye, and the tan is corn stalks. The six arrows in the eagle's talon represent the six states in the original path of Keystone XL: Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The three stars represent the states fighting the project.