The XL Pipeline

"I entered the fight to start with because I believe very strongly in our rights as American citizens to own property and not have other people taking it for their personal gain. Then, I broadened it as I found out more about the project and about the stuff that's going to be coming through the pipeline, and that all our rivers and streams have been put at risk."

Randy Thompson watched the government stand by, largely idle, while TransCanada bullied him and his neighbors with threatening letters, stonewalled about the effect of leaks on the fragile Sandhills region of Nebraska, and on the Ogallala aquifer, the massive underground reservoir, already imperiled by drought in some places, that services most of the arable farmland in the country, and through which the proposed pipeline will pass. He's laughed at the preposterous promises of an economic boom; at one point, TransCanada promised that the pipeline would provide 100,000 new jobs. It later was revealed that these jobs included employment in the "entertainment" industry that would spring up along the pipeline's route. "Strippers," Randy says. "They're talking about strippers. And temporary strippers at that."

  Charlie Pierce

Charlie Pierce interviewed a Nebraska Republican cattleman about the proposed pipeline. I hope that's enough to get your attention and send you over to Charlie's post.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.