LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Environmentalists hoping to block a proposed underground pipeline that would funnel oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico have pinned their hopes on an unlikely ally: the conservative state of Nebraska.
Few states are as red as Nebraska, which hasn’t supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. But opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has risen steadily since the project was proposed three years ago.
The reason is fear of contaminating the Ogallala Aquifer, a subterranean reservoir that spans a large swath of the Great Plains and provides water to much of Nebraska, as well as seven other states.
Opponents have grown to include Nebraska’s conservative governor along with the state’s U.S. senators, a Republican and a conservative Democrat. Many in the public also are hostile to the idea.
