Hundreds of people continue their nonviolent protest outside the White House, urging President Obama to not approve the potentially environmentally disastrous Keystone XL pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline, which if approved would run from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and carry some 900,000 barrels per day of crude oil refined from bitumen in the Canadian soil, has been denounced by environmentalist Bill McKibben and NASA scientist James Hansen and many other experts. But last week the State Department issued an assessment of the project that concluded that there would be “no significant impact“ on natural resources near the pipeline route, while also downplaying the potential for increased greenhouse gas emissions.

The Nation‘s George Zornick captured the scene at the White House this week, and documented the arrests of protesters. For more, read Zornick’s latest post on the protests.