Gore likens Keystone push to drug addiction

(CNN) - Former Vice President Al Gore condemned the controversial Keystone XL pipeline Thursday, calling the proposed project an “atrocity.”

“This should be vetoed. It is an atrocity. It is a threat to our future,” Gore said during a speech at a policy forum held by the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

“Our addiction to these high intensity, dirty carbon-based fuels… You know, junkies find veins in their toes when the ones in their arms and legs give out,” Gore said.

Proponents of the project say the proposed Canada-to-Texas pipeline will create American jobs and enable U.S. energy independence. Critics argue that the construction of a massive new pipeline carrying crude oil through the heart of the country is inherently dangerous.

President Obama is waiting on the findings of a State Department review, now in its final stages, to make a decision on whether to approve the project.

“I hope as he gets down to the … decision on this pipeline that he really understands very clearly what is at stake here,” Gore said.