Opposition to Keystone XL still vocal in the US

Keystone XL pipeline opponent California Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer says the pipeline would worsen the environmental effects of Canadian oil sands development by opening the door to industry expansion. When the U.S. State Department released its final environmental impact statement Jan. 31 – which concluded Keystone would be unlikely to alter greenhouse gas emissions – Boxer released a statement that said she isn’t “satisfied with any analysis that does not accurately document what is really happening on the ground when it comes to the extraction, transport, refining, and waste disposal of dirty, filthy tar sands oil.” Boxer held a press conference in late February, which included U.S. scientists and environmentalists, and John O’Connor, a physician and long-time advocate for the health of First Nations communities in Alberta’s oil sands region. “The pipeline going ahead is going to open the floodgates in terms of development. I’m just fearful for what will happen five to 10 years down the road,” O’Connor said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.