Despite overwhelming support, some Oklahomans say "no" to Keystone XL

Despite great support for the Keystone XL pipeline, some Oklahoma residents go to drastic lengths to try to stop its construction. This is certainly the case for Nancy Zorn of Oklahoma City, and Elisabeth Leja of Norman. These two environmental elderly ladies decided to halt construction of the Keystone XL pipelines by physically blocking the massive construction vehicles that are used to build the pipeline. Zorn used a bike lock around her neck to attach herself to a piece of construction equipment while Lejas used a cable lock.

Construction for the Keystone XL pipeline began in 2008. The pipeline will transport "oil sands" or "tar sands" from Canada down the Texas and oil refineries in the Gulf Coast. The pipeline is somewhat controversial considering the crude nature of oil sands and their potentially damaging effects on the environment if they are spilled.

Despite the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline, according to the Pew Research Center a total of 66% of the total people surveyed support the construction of the Keystone Pipeline, which would end in the middle of the year if it is passed by President Obama. 

Although support for the pipeline is overwhelming, there are others, besides Zorn and Leja who think that the pipeline is a bad idea. Groups such as "Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance" are fighting to block the proposal to finish the Keystone XL pipeline. Zorn, Leja and the anti-Keystone pipeline activists believe that the oil sands are bad for the environment and hope to keep them out of Oklahoma, despite being built elsewhere.

Not all anti-Keystone pipeline activists have implored as colorful and drastic was of preventing the construction of the pipeline as Zorn and Leja, locking themselves to the body of a piece of machinery that can easily crush them. There efforts are interesting and prove their compassion. However despite the opposition, it looks like the pipeline is here to stay.