Public hearings occurred last week regarding the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which is set to break ground in Texas in 2013. The pipeline would run from Canada’s tar sands to Texas refineries, running through 7 states along the way. The 1,700 mile pipeline would not only carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day, it would also bring in the neighborhood of 13,000 construction jobs to the U.S. as well.

Hearings at Port Arthur brought both crowds of people seeking to find jobs for the pipeline’s construction, and those who feared a possible negative environmental impact. TransCanada Spokesman Jim Prescott said that the pipeline would be solidly built and that the material would not corrode. “From a business standpoint, it makes no sense to build a 17,000 mile pipeline that doesn't work right,” Prescott states.

But the final decision of whether or not this pipeline will be built comes down to the U.S. State Department, which has been holding these public hearings throughout the states that the pipeline is planned to run through. “Texas is the linchpin that could stop the pipeline,” said Ian Davis, field manager for the Sierra Club.

The real question for Americans in this instance is whether we value a much-needed source of revenue and job creation over being environmentally conscious to the point of being skittish. Perhaps we need to refrain from seeing industrial advances as being synonymous with environmental disaster.