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The American fight against oil industry giant, TransCanada, and it’s proposal to build the Keystone XL across the United States for oil shipment to other countries, has some strong opponents emerging. ?At an event for the National Farmers Union, in Washington D.C. on Thursday, musician Neil Young, spoke out against tar sand oil, making headlines for his hard-hitting comments against Alberta’s Fort McMurray.

Describing the state of Fort McMurray, Young said that it “looks like Hiroshima.”

“The fact is, Fort McMurray looks like Hiroshima. Fort McMurray is a wasteland. The Indians up there and the native peoples are dying. The fuels all over ? there’s fumes everywhere. You can smell it when you get to town. The closest place to Fort McMurray that is doing the tar sands work is 25 or 30 miles out of town, and you can taste it when you get to Fort McMurray. People are sick. People are dying of cancer because of this.”

Coverage of this story begins at 8:17 in the video below from Democracy Now.

The mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray, scoffed at Young’s remarks saying that ?When people say it is a wasteland, it really and truly isn’t.?

This Alberta area is one of the larger oil-producing regions, and has taken a stand of defense against Young’s comments, though photographs of the area seem to support the musicians? claims.

?Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Carole King, Robert Redford?have joined a barrage of other influential leaders that have come forward to speak against big oil and the dangers being imposed on our country.

The National Resource Defense Council?(NRDC), through their online site demandcleanpowernow.org has given flight to an array of famous faces fighting against Keystone, fracking, and oil in the arctic. Robert Redford and the NRDC released a compelling outcry directed on President Obama in June to support the movement against “dirty” energy projects and the destruction it will cause to our National Forests.

Redford and NRDC, on their public website, ask supporters?to,??Tell President Obama to reject the climate-destroying, Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and lead the way to a clean energy future instead.?

The question however … is President Obama listening?

Edited by:?Jeromie Williams?- Hat Tip: Democracy Now?- Photo: National Post