Our New Series on the Keystone XL Pipeline

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

President Barack Obama visited an Oklahoma pipe yard in March and pledged his support for the Cushing-to-Texas Keystone Gulf pipeline.

All this week we’re running stories on the Keystone XL pipeline in collaboration with our neighbors to the north, StateImpact Oklahoma. We’re looking closely at the southern leg of the pipeline which would run from Cushing, Oklahoma to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

In the first story, you can read (and hear) from StateImpact Oklahoma about the current glut of oil waiting to be freed from a bottleneck in Oklahoma, and what the economic impact would be of getting it to Texas refineries. And in the second story, ‘Will Canadian Crude Make the Keystone Pipeline Leak?’, you can read about some of the safety concerns about the pipeline. In our third story, we look at how the company behind the pipeline is using eminent domain to route it through private property in a piece titled ‘Life on the Line: Landowners Fight Keystone XL and Eminent Domain.’

While the original Keystone XL pipeline was denied a permit by the President in January, Obama said the company was welcome to reapply if they found a new route through environmentally-sensitive regions of Nebraska (which they’re currently working on). And after the company also announced it intended to go ahead and begin construction on the southern leg, that got the endorsement of the president.

How do you feel about the pipeline? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. And you can learn more on our topic page, What is the Keystone XL Pipeline?