Keystone XL pipeline rejected: Obama blames republicans
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 04:58PM 
Keystone XL under construction: TransCanada remains committed to the project and hopes to proceed with a new route approved by the US State Department.
Saying that his decision is not a judgement on the merits of the proposed pipeline but rather on the “arbitrary deadline” imposed by Congressional Republicans, President Obama today turned down TransCanada’s bid to build the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
With the Republicans’ 60-day deadline running out, the president said there just isn’t time to review the project and decide whether it is in the national interest. The US State Department, which has authority over the project because of its international aspect, stated that there was not enough time to lay out a new route for the pipeline, something the president had asked for last fall when he put off his decision until 2013. Also, there was not enough time to assess the impact of the pipeline on “the health and safety of the American people, as well as on our environment.”
The pipeline has divided Americans more or less on party lines, with Republicans for it and the jobs they say it will create, and Democrats against it because of its potential harm to the environment. Republicans are already declaring the decision a victory for China, saying that Obama’s decision will create jobs in China rather than in the US, and force the US to import millions of barrels of “conflict oil” from the Middle East. Environmentalists are calling it a victory. It is certain to be a major issue in the coming presidential election battle.
The president made it clear to Stephen Harper, whom he telephoned before announcing his decision, that the pipeline was not necessarily dead. Canada can reapply, for a different route, something that TransCanada has already said it will do.
The president of TransCanada, Russ Girling, promises that, though disappointed, the company remains committed to the pipeline. Plans are underway, he said, to “largely maintain the construction schedule of the project.”
Reader Comments (1)
I think the pipeline would have created more job but it also could have environmental concerns and fallback in the future. It's not just the short term gains we have to think about but the long term ones as well.
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