Gore: Keystone Pipeline Like a Junkie in Search of New Veins

Former Vice President Al Gore called the Keystone XL oil pipeline an "atrocity" and compared extracting oil from the Canadian sands to a drug addict in search of fresh veins.

"Junkies find veins in their toes when the ones in their arms and legs give out," Gore said while speaking at the Center for American Progress 10th anniversary event in Washington. "We are now at this point where we're going after these ridiculously dirty and dangerous carbon-based fuels. And we've got to stop that."

According to Politico, the former vice president urged President Barack Obama to veto the pipeline, calling it "a threat to our future."

"You think I'm passionate about this? You're damn right I'm passionate about this," said Gore, receiving a standing ovation from the progressive audience after detailing the threat of climate change.

"I do love this country, damn it. And our country is in very deep trouble," he added.

"This should be vetoed. It is an atrocity. It is a threat to our future."

It is not the first time Gore has called the Keystone pipeline project an "atrocity." He used the same word in June in an interview with The Guardian, but added that while Obama's decision on the pipeline is important, "it is even more important for him to regulate carbon dioxide emissions."

The state department issued a draft report of its environmental review of the pipeline project in March, saying that there would be no significant environmental impact along the pipeline's proposed route. The report isn't expected to be finalized until 2014, when Obama is also expected to make his decision on the project.

According to a poll published by Pew Research Center in September, 65 percent of Americans support the Keystone project, however the same percentage also want stricter rules on gas emissions.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in September that the benefits that would come from the Keystone pipeline are "simply overwhelming," and argued that it is in "the national interest of the United States" and Canada.

"I am of the view that it has to be approved," he said.

Energy entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens said in early October that the Keystone pipeline could make OPEC "obsolete."

Related Stories:
Environmentalists Sue State Department Over Keystone Documents
Obama Links Keystone Approval to Carbon Emissions