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As Americans listen to their President tonight give his sixth annual State of the Union address, many people will be eagerly awaiting to see if he says anything about what has become one of the biggest political headaches of his Administration: the controversial Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline which will transport dirty tar sands from Canada to the US.

The tar sands industry lists market access as the number one threat to its future in a recent industry survey.

Later today the Senate floor is expected to vote on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, although currently Senators do not have enough votes to override Obama’s promised presidential veto on the issue.

As the political squabbling over Keystone XL continues to dominate the political landscape in Washington, yesterday the Senate energy committee voted 13-9 in favour of a bill that would force construction of the controversial pipeline.

New technologies like fracking––along with government subsidies––have ushered in an energy boom reliant on extreme extraction methods to produce oil and natural gas. Now the Uinta Basin is ground zero for what threatens to become the next phase in extreme energy extraction: strip mining for tar sands and oil shale.

Through public land leases, infrastructure subsidies, and some very expensive tax breaks, taxpayer money is supporting what could become one of the dirtiest, most destructive chapters in American energy history.

The US shale industry faces a Darwinian struggle over the next few months as only the fittest producers will survive as the price of crude plunges to $50 a barrel, the Bank of America has warned.

The message from the markets for the North American oil industry is summed up in four simple words by the Financial Times today: “No respite for oil.”