The Setting

Every story has a setting, a location where the action or controversy takes place. A setting can be as simple as a city or as complex as a certain room in a building in a city. In this instance I will explore the setting of the the Keystone XL Pipeline controversy. The irony about the setting for this controversy is that it is nowhere near the location of the people the controversy is affecting.

The Keystone XL Pipeline controversy can be centered in one specific location, but not where one would expect it. The average person would expect the controversy to be centered in the location of where the pipeline would be running, in the United States Midwest. However this is simply not the case. The main controversy is centered in the US capital of Washington D.C. This is a city where politics rule and opinions are diverse and very distinguished. The controversy over the pipeline stems from the politics on capitol hill. Democrats and Republicans, Congress and the President; all of these groups stand opposed on the issue and worked to create the controversy that exists today. The Republican majority Congress passed the bill which would create the pipeline and then President Obama proceeded to veto the bill. After all this unfolded the TransCanada company sued the US Government after it claimed that the government had no grounds to reject the pipeline except to look good in front of other climate sensitive countries. Washington DC has history, it has been the site of many important events, it is the residency of many of this nations leaders, it is the seat of decision making in this nation. This city is considered to be one of the unique melting pots in the United States, with people from all walks of life calling it home. This makes DC a bustling city, a cold city of politics and potential corruption. It is a busy city that hundreds of thousands of people call home. This city embodies the spirit of America and is the soul of the American Government.

United States Navy, "Washington D.C." via Wikipedia
Public Domain