Nobel Prize winners join oil protest

Opponents of the proposed Keystone XL crude-oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast have been joined by a number of notable international figures.

The Dalai Lama (pictured), Archbishop Desmond Tutu and seven other Nobel Peace Prize recipients have appealed to President Obama in a letter urging him to reject the TransCanada Pipelines project and focus on renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, according to media sources.

The appeal comes on the heels of the arrest of more than 1,200 protesters who flocked to the White House in recent weeks. The controversial pipeline has been linked to expanded development of tar-sands oil extraction, a process requiring large amounts of water and energy.