Keystone XL Pipeline

A company called TransCanada has proposed a Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that would cut through six U.S. states and put American people and wildlife at risk from toxic oil spills, polluted water and more. National Wildlife Federation is working to stop this dirty fuel. The Obama Administration showed bold leadership by announcing a decision to reject the permit for the dangerous Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, but some members of Congress are still trying to approve this risky project.

UPDATE (5/4/12): TransCanada reapplies for Keystone XL Permit: New Route, Same Risks

What is the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline?

The U.S. already imports 800,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil, and the stage is being set for a drastic increase. Several pipelines already transport tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. and two new ones have been built in the last few years.

But the next one could be a game-changer.

Keystone Pipeline and proposed extension

TransCanada, a Canadian pipeline company, has proposed a pipeline called Keystone XL, which would carry up to 900,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil from operations in Alberta, Canada, more than 2,000 miles to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The pipeline would cut through six American heartland states, including Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Keystone XL would lock the U.S. into a dependence on this dirty fuel and drive a massive expansion of the tar sands operations in Alberta, Canada. Because Keystone XL would deliver tar sands oil to the Gulf Coast, America's largest oil refining and transport hub, it would effectively open the entire U.S. market and international markets to dirty fuel.

The added capacity of Keystone XL and the other two pipelines that have been built recently could more than triple U.S. consumption of tar sands oil. If expansion of tar sands goes unchecked, it will be impossible to reach our goals to reduce global warming pollution, and will have serious impacts for both people and wildlife.

Learn more about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline (PDF) >>

How Could the Keystone XL Impact People and Wildlife?

If approved, the Keystone XL pipeline will cross through America's agricultural heartland, the Missouri and Niobrara Rivers, the Ogallala aquifer, sage grouse habitat, sandhill crane habitat, walleye fisheries and more. Our public water supplies, crop lands, wildlife habitats and recreational opportunities will all be at risk of dangerous tar sands oil leaks, like the Enbridge Oil Spill in Michigan.

Learn more about the threat the Keystone XL pipeline poses >>

Speak Up to Stop the Keystone XL

Thousands of people around the country are taking a stand against the import of dirty tar sands oil, from farmers in Nebraska who don't want a tar sands pipeline plowed through their property to activists in Seattle who want to move towards a clean energy future.