WASHINGTON - A two-week civil disobedience campaign aimed at pressuring U.S. President Barack Obama to block TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline is coming to an end today.
Protesters held a final rally after two weeks of daily sit-ins where roughly a thousand people were arrested.
Those arrested included some celebrities, such as actresses Daryl Hannah and Margot Kidder.
Organizer Bill McKibben, a well-known environmentalist, says the protests have helped raise awareness about the environmental impact of the proposed project and Alberta's oilsands.
But he says the big question now is whether the Obama administration will decide to block the pipeline.
He says Canada and oil companies are exerting a lot of pressure but he's hopeful the high-profile demonstrations have helped sway the president.
The Obama administration says it will make a final decision on the pipeline by the end of the year, after it determines whether the project is in the U.S. national interest.
Keystone XL would carry Alberta oilsands crude from northern Alberta through six U.S. states to refineries in Texas.
The U.S. State Department released its final environmental assessment of the $7 billion pipeline last week, determining the project would cause minimal risk.
