Washington (CNN)A majority of Americans favor the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline -- a result that could give
Republicans a boost as they move toward a showdown with President Barack Obama over the project --
a CNN/ORC poll has found.
The 1,179-mile Canada-to-Texas pipeline is backed by 57% of the 1,011 Americans surveyed on Dec. 18-21. Just 28% oppose it, while 15% say they are unsure.
Keystone debate moves ahead
The controversial project has become the subject of a battle between liberal environmentalists who argue it would contribute to global warming and conservatives who say it would create jobs and help the United States break away from Middle Eastern oil.
President Barack Obama
has threatened to veto a measure that the Senate is set to vote on as soon as next week, which would end the State Department's six-year-old review of the project and authorize its construction immediately. Obama has said he objects to the decision-making process being removed from the executive branch.
The poll found that support for the pipeline is strongest in the South, where it's backed by 65% of those polled, and in the Midwest, where it has 63% support.
Read the entire CNN/ORC poll
The pipeline also stokes a divide along party lines, with 80% of Republicans backing it compared to just 39% of Democrats, and different age groups, with support strongest at 67% among those 65 and older and weakest at 47% among those between 18 and 34.
