“There’s no legal requirement to do that and a lot of interagency work has gone into this to date, to include interagency review and coordination, as well as significant review and coordination here”, he added.
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Obama vetoed a bipartisan bill backing the pipeline project back in February, citing concerns over “safety, security, and the environment”; his posture on the issue hasn’t changed, leading me (and the rest of the world) to believe that he won’t leave office having opened the door for Keystone.
It requires presidential approval because it crosses from Canada into the U-S with the route going from Alberta to refineries in Texas. TransCanada abandoned efforts to use new state law to sanction the Keystone XL route through Nebraska and reverted to older statutes that gives jurisdiction over common carriers to the Public Service Commission.
On Wednesday, the State Department sent TransCanada a letter officially rejecting its request. Supporters maintain it will create jobs and reduce US reliance on Middle Eastern oil.
The falling price of oil over the past year has raised growing doubts about the economics of the pipeline, however, with a few analysts arguing that it is no longer financially viable.
The 1,179-mile (1,900-kilometer) long pipeline has always been a flashpoint in the US debate over climate change.
Former Gov. Dave Heineman approved a Nebraska route for Keystone XL in 2013 after a review by the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Environmentalists said TransCanada’s bid to halt its review – despite oil industry leaders’ criticisms of the lengthy scrutiny – was a ploy aimed at avoiding a presidential permit denial in hopes that a president with a more favorable view of the project would be elected next November. Obama has yet to say whether he would approve the pipeline, but the Democrats running for president have all said they oppose it while Republican candidates support it.
Because Obama has made fighting climate change so central to his second term, he’s effectively painted himself into a corner on this one.
Murkowski last month spoke out against a recent decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to deny Shell Alaska’s request to extend leases off Alaska’s northern coast. “They are waiting for the next administration so it’s a bit of a delay but a better chance”.
“The president has said that before, yes – that he would like to have this determination be completed before he leaves office”, Earnest said.
Spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the State Department was reviewing and preparing a response to the request, which comes near the end of its own scrutiny of whether Keystone XL is in the “national interest”. “There’s no obligation, based on a request, to stop that process”.
The $10 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline would cross six states, carrying oil from Canada’s tar sands region to Nebraska.
Canada needs infrastructure in place to export its growing oil sands production.
Despite a sharp decline in oil prices, Girling said Keystone and other proposed pipelines remain viable.
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“This project remains very much in demand by our customers, ‘ Girling said”.
