(Image Credit: Indian Country Today Media Network)
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are urging the White House and the U.S. State Department to approve a permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas. The House of Representatives gave first-round approval Monday on a voice vote to a nonbinding resolution urging President Barack Obama and the State Department to approve permits to allow construction to begin. Federal approval is required because the pipeline crosses international boundaries. Opponents have delayed the project for four years over concerns that extracting oil from Alberta tar sands would increase global warming. The project was further delayed when Nebraska officials objected to the proposed route through the state. A recent State Department report raised no major objections to the project, which has already been constructed through Kansas.