reduce America’s dependence on politically vulnerable Middle Eastern oil imports.
282 12 • Environmental Protection and Negative Externalities

Not so fast, said its critics. The Keystone XL would be constructed over an enormous aquifer (one of the largest in

the world) in the Midwest, and through an environmentally fragile area in Nebraska, causing great concern among

environmentalists about possible destruction to the natural surroundings. They argued that leaks could taint

valuable water sources and pipeline construction could disrupt and even harm indigenous species. Environmentalist

groups fought government approval of the proposed pipeline construction, and in November 2015, the Obama

administration refused to grant the cross-border permit necessary to build the Keystone XL pipeline. In 2017, the

Trump administration sought to grant the necessary cross-border permit, and legal challenges emerged. In 2021,
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