[An Nahar] Former U.S. vice president Al Gore on Thursday urged President Barack ObamaBecause I won...
to block the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, likening the carbon-intense project to drug addiction.
Gore, who has championed action against climate change since his razor-thin loss for the White House in 2000, praised Obama's general views on climate change but said his fellow Democrat faced a key test on the proposed project.
"This should be vetoed. It is an atrocity and a threat to our future," Gore told a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank.
"Junkies find veins in their toes when the ones in their arms and their legs give out. We are now at the point where we're going after these ridiculously dirty and dangerous carbon-based dirty fuels, and we've got to stop that," he said.
Obama has held off on a decision on the proposed 1,179-mile (1,897-km) pipeline, which would take oil from Alberta's tar sands to U.S. refineries, as he waits for a review on the environmental impact.
Opponents say that oil from Alberta's tar sands is among the dirtiest on the planet as it must be melted with steaming hot water before processing, further contributing to carbon emissions blamed for climate change.