President Barack Obama was silent on the issue of the XL pipeline that proponents want to build between Alberta and Texas.

His silence on the issue is seen to be favourable toward the pipeline because it appears that he is trying to distance himself from comments he made earlier in his presidency where the said that overland pipelines could be a threat to the environment.

Canada has large oil reserves in the form of tar sand oil, and it is this tar sand oil that is expected to be transported to Texas via the XL pipeline. Texas has lots of unused refining capacity for that oil. Proponents of the pipeline point out that building the pipeline is a win-win situation for both the US and Canada both because of the jobs it would provide in the near term and the energy independance it would provide the US over the medium and long term. The US gets a reliable supply of oil and Canada gets a customer for it's oil without having to run the much greater environmental risks of transporting that oil by sea.

I'm hoping that within the next few months, your president will make an announcement saying that he's approving the building of that pipeline.