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The North American fracking industry is hailing the production of its billionth barrel of fracked oil from the vast Bakken oil fields as a cause for celebration.

The oil industry always maintains that politics is a job for somebody else – it just gets on with drilling for oil and gas. The line is a fallacy of course, as the industry uses its economic might to prop up politicians that give it favourable tax breaks or subsidies or push its climate destructive policies.

Under a clear-blue spring sky, thousands of people joined ranchers and First Nations leaders from the Cowboy and Indian Alliance for a ceremonial procession along the National Mall in Washington DC to protest against the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on Saturday.

Today, over 30 groups from around the world, including Oil Change International, sent an open letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on April 24th urging Japan to follow the United States and other countries' pledges to stop financing coal overseas.

It was not a normal day in DC. But then it was Earth Day. But even for a day that celebrates our relationship with our fragile planet, this was something special. It was unique.

This week a unique gathering will take place in Washington which people are urged to participate in to show their opposition to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

With every passing day the downside of America’s burgeoning fracking boom becomes apparent. The industry has done much to portray fracked gas as a clean fuel. But its dirty secrets are slowly and painfully being revealed.