Republicans, and in particular, Senator. John Hoeven, is pressurizing the President to approve the 1700-mile Keystone pipeline, citing reasons that it would not only boost the economy but also help pay off the federal deficit.
Alternatively, environmentalists like Maura Cowley, with the Energy Action Coalition, in siding with the President’s decision, begs to differ, in saying, “Keystone XL is a dirty and dangerous pipeline. It’s literally going to cut our country in half, carrying a very dangerous fuel, and it will cause runaway climate change.”
These remarks come as a result of a permit being disapproved by Obama in January 2012 for the northern part of the pipeline which crosses the U.S-Canada border. The administration believes that an alternate route through Nebraska is more suitable but has not yet made a decision.
As for the southern part of the pipeline which runs from Oklahoma and the Gulf, and which has been approved by Obama, it is currently underway with TransCanada already starting its construction in August 2012.
Despite Hoeven’s comments about the northern pipeline creating thousands of jobs, reducing fuel dependency on the Middle East as well as keeping the cost of fuel low, environmentalists are expressing their concern over this part of the pipeline as it might cause water and soil contamination but also release numerous greenhouse gases as 500000 to 700000 barrels of crude oil pass through this pipeline each day.
Thousands of protesters recently gathered at the National Mall in Washington to protest against the pipeline and climate change.