ANCHOR: It’s a rural area, but when it comes to pipelines, it’s the capital. The president is expected to talk about energy, which angers many key players in Oklahoma’s petroleum industry. News Channel 4’s Shelly Mills has more details on why some say this is just election year politics.
MIKE CANTRELL: For the last three years, he’s been anti-fossil-fuels.
MICKEY THOMPSON: He calls our industry an industry of the past, and they’d like to see us go away
MILLS: The president is expected to mention his support for a pipeline running from Payne County to the Gulf. It’s the southern end of the so-called Keystone XL pipeline. Industry experts say that while his support for the southern end is welcome, it’s not needed. They build pipelines in the country all the time without presidential approval. The president’s green-light is only needed for approximately 50 feet on the northern end that would cross the Canadian border. So far, the president has delayed that project.
THOMPSON: The president is using this, frankly, as a publicity stunt to try to show the American people that he’s doing something about high gasoline prices.
CANTRELL: We take exception to the hypocrisy of standing before the largest crude oil facility in the world and saying anything about energy.
MILLS: Thompson and others are planning to be in Payne County with their equipment as a protest to what the president has to say.
CANTRELL: We don’t think it’s disrespectful to the office of the president to come to Cushing, Okla., as people in the oil and gas business and say, "We don’t buy this."
MILLS: It’s unclear how much of Thursday’s protest President Obama will actually witness. The event is private, it is closed to the public, and any protesters. I’m Shelly Mills, reporting.
ANCHOR: Despite the protest, Thompson and Cantrell say they do expect Oklahomans will be cordial to the president.