“We’re talking about communities that are being directly affected with health issues because this is a substance that has never been pumped through pipelines before and it’s not really clear if it can be safely pumped through [them] without causing lots of spills. In fact, there’s evidence against it. On the original Keystone Pipeline, for example, there’s already been 12 minor spills – which portends some doom if the Keystone XL Pipeline gets built.”-Steve Horn on the XL Pipeline Project

On Thursday July 25th, host Allen Ruff discussed corporate chicanery and the political connections behind the XL Pipeline project with investigative journalist, Steve Horn. Steve Horn is a research fellow at DeSmogBlog, Truthout, Mint Press News, and Counter Punch contributor.

Horn explained the Keystone Pipeline’s history, as well as the controversial XL Pipeline and the politics surrounding it. The Keystone Pipeline currently runs from Alberta, Canada to Oklahoma and then has an offshoot in Illinois to oil refineries. The XL Pipeline, however, would take the tar sands down to the Gulf Coast, through ecologically sensitive areas. For the rest of the show, Ruff and Horn talked about the potential impacts of the XL Pipeline if it were to be built.