The US State department has decided that the Keystone XL pipeline will not cause many environmental problems. Despite the fact that several groups have held recent protests against the planned pipeline, the Obama administration moved one step closer to approving the construction of the project.
Fox News reports that not only did the state department announce that they didn’t have any major objections, but they didn’t see any options that would less harmful to the environment.
The other possibilities to get the oil from Canada through the United States were all judged to be more harmful than what this particular pipeline.
Fox does point out that while the State Department does not say no to the Keystone XL pipeline it also doesn’t expressly say that it should be given the go-ahead.
ABC News reports that the State department made it clear that it did not believe that the 875 mile pipeline would cause any real harm to the tar sands of Alberta, Canada.
Environmentalists have been pointing to the possibility of contamination of tar sands pits along the route as one of the major reasons that the project should be rejected.
Water contamination has also been a major worry for people in environmental groups but the State Department seemed to dismiss these complaints as well.
The report indicated that if there was an oil spill along the pipeline that it most likely would not actually leak into the water supply. The Keystone XL pipeline is certainly drawing quite a bit of negative attention.
It seems as if the United States government is going to eventually decide that this method is truly the best way to transport the oil from one end of North America to the other.
If the Keystone XL pipeline is eventually approved, will you have a problem with the decision?
