WASHINGTON, D.C. - Alberta Premier Allison Redford is heading south this weekend to talk Keystone and energy with American governors.

Redford, who is flying to D.C. Friday, will meet with dozens of her U.S. counterparts when she attends the National Governors Association winter meeting.

And according to Canadian Embassy officials, the embassy is hosting a reception for some 25 to 30 of the governors Saturday. Redford and Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer will be there, too.

"This is an opportunity for the premier to meet with a broad range of governors from across the country," Doer said in a statement e-mailed to QMI Agency. "This will allow her to further our common advocacy work on the Keystone XL pipeline, but also to talk about broader issues of U.S. market access and North American energy independence."

Talk of Keystone's prospects has shifted recently from near certainty to more questionable since President Barack Obama began talking more frequently of his desire to tackle climate change in his second term.

The governors, including both Democrats and Republicans, are to meet with Obama on the weekend as well.

"Canada is a key trading partner and a longtime friend of Oklahoma. I'm looking forward to visiting with Alberta Premier Allison Redford and other Canadian officials," Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said Thursday.

Last weekend, thousands of environmental activists gathered here for large protest urging the president to reject the $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline.

When she was first elected, Redford travelled to Washington but was criticized for not lobbying harder for the pipeline, that would ship crude from Alberta to refineries in the southern United States.

An excess of oil in Alberta is reportedly pushing prices down and robbing Redford's government of much-needed revenues.