Premier Brad Wall and 10 U.S. governors sent a joint letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday imploring him to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
Sent on the eve of Obama’s second inauguration, the letter argues that the pipeline is critical to the future economic prosperity of Canada and the United States. The premier and governors claim that the project will increase U.S. energy security and create thousands of jobs in manufacturing, construction and economic spin-offs.
The president is expected to rule this year on a revised application by chief proponent TransCanada Corporation for the pipeline, which would transport oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska and on to the Gulf Coast.
Environmentalists have attacked the project for its potentially destructive effects on the surrounding ecosystem.
Canada is the largest oil supplier to the United States, responsible for one-quarter of U.S. oil imports. Saskatchewan is Canada’s second largest oil producer, with 65 to 70 per cent of its oil shipped to the American market.
