WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Plans to run an oil pipeline 1,700 miles from Canada into the United States drew thousands of environmentalists to Washington Sunday to protest.
The protesters, some dressed as polar bears, maintain TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline is a bad idea, despite supporters' contentions it will create much-needed jobs and provide energy, and want President Obama to nip it in the bud, USA Today reported.
"It's a terrible idea," Shane Chadek, 36, an Elkhorn, Neb., native told the newspaper.
"The president needs to show some leadership on this."
John Adams, founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called on Obama to show leadership as the president seeks re-election.
"He's trying to get elected, but there's also a really important decision that he's got to make to put us on the right path," Adams said. "That's what leadership is."
Jane Winn, 54, of Pittsfield, Mass., said she hopes the president at least "decides to kick the can down the road and call for more study."
