Imagine this: ecocide is already a crime. Pipelines will no longer exist because we shall no longer be extracting oil. Instead, governments will be granting permits for clean energy solutions. Oil will no longer be part of our energy strategy – instead of pipelines for oil we will be building supergrids for clean energy to be transported. Supergrids can be laid easily and have far less environmental impact. But it goes further back than that. The real source of the problem is the extraction of oil in the first place. When ecocide is a crime, we shan't be destroying vast tracts of arboreal peat lands and ancient forests to extract energy. When ecocide is a crime, we shall be harnessing the energy from the sun, wind and sea.

This week the Obama administration announced an environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which is likely to last through to early 2013. People from Nebraska, Texas, Montana and others had fought hard for protection of their land and water. Masses of students, teachers, faith leaders and others asked for a strong stance against oil from the Athabasca tar sands. Instead of putting in place policy to create a viable clean alternative, Nebraska and TransCanada Corp announced on Monday that they would find a new route. The battle was won by the people, but the war rages on.

At the end of September, two CEOs were found guilty on two indictments of ecocide of Canada's Athabasca tar sands when the law of ecocide was tried and tested for the first time in a mock trial at the UK supreme court on 30 September 2011. The event was live-streamed by Sky News to thousands across the world who tuned in to watch the drama unfold. Leading QCs Michael Mansfield and Chris Parker and their teams of lawyers fought for and against the indictments laid at the feet of Mr Bannerman of Global Petroleum Company and Mr Tench of the Glamis Group. Although the CEOs were actors and the companies fictional, the evidence was real and the issues the same as if the real CEOs of the companies involved in the events were being examined.

Put in place a law of ecocide and the door is locked to any further destructive activity that is adversely impacting on our land as well as our people. Ecocide is a crime against humanity, nature and future generations and the tar sands proposal is one of the largest ecocides in the world. As was stated in the trial, it's all about getting a sense of perspective; while an oil spill might not constitute an ecocide for the purposes of the law, the destruction of land the size of England and Wales most certainly is a crime of enormous proportions.

Ecocide is not a crime of intent, and that must never be forgotten. No one is intending to destroy the world, but we have put profit first without looking to the consequences. Now we know just how damaging oil extraction has become, and we know that it creates one legacy that we cannot afford to ignore any longer. Barack Obama has the golden opportunity to take a different route and help those companies face the future and become the new clean energy companies we most urgently need.