Environmentalists across the country are urging President Barack Obama to reject the proposed Keystone X-L pipeline linking Canada with Texas. Rallies were held Monday night, including in front of Ann Arbor's federal building.
Robert Gordon says adding 30 to 50 jobs isn't worth the environmental risk. He says the pipeline runs to refineries but also ports where he believes much of the oil will be shipped across the globe. He says this will do nothing to help domestic energy independence.
Rita Mitchell says promoting the use of tar sands oil is an issue beyond the pipeline. She and other Ann Arbor protestors highlight the Enbridge leak in the Kalamazoo River as an example of what can happen. They also fear proposals to pump tar sand oil under the straits of Mackinac or ship it on the Great Lakes.
The rallies across the country were in response to the State Department releasing a new environmental assessment on the project.
See NPR's coverage of the State Department report here
— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.