Keystone XL pipeline path marks new battle line in Oklahoma

Published: March 8, 2013 Comment on this article

Opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has united climate activists and property rights advocates in Oklahoma and Texas. Even if the oil industry wins this battle, has it lost the war of public opinion?

As the time draws closer for a final decision on the project by President Barack Obama, it is clear that the Keystone XL's list of enemies is growing ever more diverse.

Pipeline opponents garnered national attention last month, when some 40,000 protesters (according to organizers) assembled in Washington, D.C., to urge the White House to take a stand against fossil fuel emissions by vetoing the project. The event was billed as the largest rally ever held in the United States on climate change. Less noticed have been the bitter personal battles being waged in the trenches—literally, those being dug by TransCanada.

It's happening in the unlikeliest of places, the oil states of Oklahoma and Texas, where environmentalists have joined hands with conservatives furious over how the imperative to build the Keystone XL has trumped the property rights of those in its path.

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H/T: National Geographic News