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Obama: Canadian oil extraction is ‘extraordinarily dirty’

President Barack Obama speaks at AARP in Washington, Monday, Feb. 23, 2015.
President Barack Obama speaks at AARP in Washington, Monday, Feb. 23, 2015. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama has some less-than-laudatory words for Canada’s oil industry.

The president says the way oil is extracted in Canada is extraordinarily dirty and that’s why a lot of environmentalists are concerned about it.

The remarks in a question-and-answer session at a town hall are the latest from a president who sounds increasingly critical of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Obama says his decision to veto a pipeline bill isn’t the last word on the matter and he hasn’t made a final decision.

But he also says he won’t authorize a pipeline that benefits a foreign company unless it can be shown to be safe and that it doesn’t contribute to climate change.

Obama then spoke about what he called the catastrophic threat of climate change, with wildfires, rising sea levels, crop losses, drought, hunger, war, and the spread of insect-born diseases.

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