Proposed Oil Pipeline Spanning From Canada To The Texas Coast

TOPEKA, Kan. — State Department officials are traveling to Kansas and Texas to launch what they're calling a series of listening sessions over a proposed oil pipeline spanning from Canada to the Texas coast.

Department officials could get an earful from environmental critics during Monday's meetings in Topeka, Kan., and Port Arthur, Texas. Although the agency hasn't officially signed off on the Keystone XL pipeline, it has released a report finding that there should be no serious environmental problems with it.

Other meetings have been scheduled this week in Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

The proposed $7 billion pipeline would move tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada. It would hook up to TransCanada's existing pipelines and move oil to Oklahoma and the Gulf of Mexico.

Critics say it would produce "dirty oil."