Raising its slim, white neck out of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, one of the world's last surviving whooping cranes hungrily searches a Texas marsh for the blue crabs and berries it devours during its annual migration to the Gulf Coast.

U.S. President Barack Obama will tell federal agencies today to fast track the approval process for the leg of the Keystone XL pipeline from Cushing, Okla., to Texas refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.