On January 18, President Obama vetoed the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, an oil pipeline which would extend from Alberta, Canada to refineries in Texas. Oil and gas company TransCanada hoped to double the amount of imported oil from tar sands in Canada to increase profits for large oil corporations. However, these oil companies overlooked the possible danger involved in the construction of the XL pipeline.

The process of extraction from the tar sands is fatal to the environment, and has already destroyed many acres of beautiful land. Boreal forests used to cover Alberta, and the ground was rich in oil. Greedy corporations displaced local Chipewyan and Cree Indians in order to gain ownership of the land, and then uprooted all of trees in order to reach the oil sands. The environment was damaged beyond belief. The contaminated water with toxins would be later dumped nearby, and often migrating ducks would mistake these lethal pools for ponds. The result for these ducks was instant death. Imagine its result on humans.

The XL pipeline would deliver over 900,000 barrels of tar sands oil into the United States daily, which would double the country’s reliance on oil. The United States needs to cut any support connected the horrific process of extracting oil before it is too late.

Indigenous people, though already have moved from the extracting area, are continually affected physically by toxic fumes.

The plan is for the XL pipeline to cross through the middle of the United States, and over the Ogallala Aquifer. One single leak from the pipe could poison the entire aquifer, which gives clean drinking water to millions of Americans residing in central US. Why should the United States take such a risk?