The two sides of the debate over the Keystone XL pipeline are stepping up their campaigns.
For six years, the Obama administration has been reviewing the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline would carry tar sands oil south from the Canadian border to the Texas Gulf Coast.
Those for and against the pipeline project say it’s time for a decision.
Michigan oil industry representatives and related groups met recently in Lansing to encourage giving the project the green light. Patrick “Shorty” Gleason is with the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. He says Michigan could benefit economically from the pipeline being built hundreds of miles away.
“Not only from the construction point of view, but all the businesses and the contractors and everything else that’s going to have the opportunity to bid on this project,” says Gleason.
But environmentalists say the Keystone XL pipeline presents too great a threat to the water supply of a half-dozen Midwestern states. This weekend, opponents are launching a campaign to convince the Obama administration to say no to the pipeline.
