Pumping Petroleum from Hardisty to Houston
Demonstrations outside the White House in Washington, D.C. are not uncommon. However, if the average tourist visited the President’s residence between August 19 and September 2, he or she would have encountered especially vocal and defiant protesters. Residents of the United States and Canada gathered in opposition to the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a 1,700 mile-long petroleum transit line extending from Hardisty, Alberta to several gulf cities in Texas. Well over 500 protesters were arrested while committing acts of civil disobedience in an extremely visible show of discontent with Washington’s pipeline construction inclinations. The protestors demanded that President Obama withhold his support for the project, citing the potential impact on mid-western states’ environmental welfare.
The U.S.-Canadian project has been touted as an act of trans-continental solidarity between longtime economic, political, and cultural allies. The Canadian energy company TransCanada proposed Keystone XL as a means to connect a unique form of “bituminous crude petroleum,” found in the “tar sands” of Alberta, with the multi-billion dollar Texan oil refinery business. The recent uproar over the pipeline was further energized when the U.S. Department of State released a report that “reaffirmed the environmental integrity of the project.” The report was released as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to make a final recommendation on the pipeline’s construction to President Obama, attracting the attention of both opponents and proponents of the pipeline.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Zac Deibel.
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