WASHINGTON — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday urged U.S. officials to approve a proposed oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast, calling Canada a “secure, stable and friendly” neighbor that poses no threat to U.S. security.
Harper spoke at a White House news conference after a meeting with President Barack Obama, who did not address the pipeline issue.
Canada’s environment minister has used the term “ethical oil” to describe his nation’s crude supplies, saying Canada respects human and workers’ rights and environmental responsibility.
A Canadian company wants to build a 1,900-mile pipeline to carry crude extracted from tar sands in Alberta to refineries in Texas. Environmental groups call the pipeline an ecological disaster waiting to happen and say the tar sands produce “dirty” oil that requires huge amounts of energy to extract.
