Perhaps we do not elect presidents to make tough decisions. The Obama administration has postponed a tough decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline until after the 2012 presidential election.

The story of the pipeline starts in Alberta, Canada, at the Athabasca Oil Sands. Alberta has large deposits of bitumen popularly known as heavy oil sands crude oil. The Keystone pipeline is a pipeline system to transport diluted bitumen from Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta to the United States. The bitumen deposits at Athabasca are the largest in the world.

A proposed extension of the Keystone system is known as Keystone XL. Phase three and phase four are the two parts of the Keystone XL pipeline. Phase three would start from Cushing, Oklahoma. and go to Port Arthur and Houston, Texas.

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