The Keystone XL pipeline would ship Canadian oilsands oil across 1,800 kilometres to U.S. refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Photo Credit: Eric Hylden/Associated Press

Canada parries pipeline criticism by Nobel winners

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has responded sharply to a letter signed by Nobel laureates urging the U.S. president to reject the building of the Keystone pipeline that would carry bitumen from Canada’s oilsands through the United States to Texas Gulf Coast oil refineries.

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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter urges the current U.S. administration to reject the Keystone XL pipeline. © CBC

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other laureates sent the letter expressing “growing urgency” about the effects of “the changing climate and environmental damage caused by our dangerous addiction to oil.”

Canada refers to past oil crisis

Canada’s PMO responded with a letter warning President Barak Obama to “Remember 1979.” It was a reference to the drop in oil supply following the revolution in Iran and ensuing global panic.

“Mr. Carter knows from his time as president during the 1979 energy crisis there are benefits to having access to oil from stable, secure partners like Canada,” the PMO said. The statement also cited multiple reviews by the U.S. State Department, which said the project would create thousands of construction jobs without an impact on the environment.

Environmental groups in the U.S. have mounted a vigorous campaign against the Keystone pipeline. Business interests and Republicans tend to support it.

Obama has indicated a decision on whether to approve it will come before summer, usually considered to start in May or June.

Pipeline a Canadian government priority

Development of western Canada’s oilsands is seen as a key to Canada’s economic growth and the Canadian government has lobbied mightily to try to get this pipeline approved.

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