On Monday, the oil company TransCanada asked the U.S. State Department to temporarily suspend its review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline-a move, critics said, calculated to punt the decision until after the November 2016 elections.
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Today the State Department informed TransCanada Corp. that the agency review of the Keystone XL pipeline and its associated permits will continue in spite of the corporation’s request that the process be paused.
President Barack Obama should reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline before heading to Paris next month to finalize a global climate agreement, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Wednesday. It would connect the northern portion of the pipeline with its southern portion which transports crude to oil refineries along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas.
Earlier this year the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld Keystone’s proposed route through the state following lawsuits from landowners and environmental activists.
In the past, President Obama has said he would only greenlight the project if it was not deemed to be a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
The State Department said Wednesday that it has notified the company that the review, in its eighth year, will continue.
The Obama administration has expressed skepticism about the pipeline project and is widely expected to reject it once the State Department review is complete.
Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson, who had several postings in the United States, said the Liberal government would be best advised to put Keystone to one side.
The company said it will submit its changes to the National Energy Board, and that the pipeline should be up and running by 2020.
“We examined other options, looking at it through the environmental perspective, but also an economic one”, spokesman Tim Duboyce said in an interview. The company is seeking a cross-border permit that would allow construction of a 1,179-mile pipeline to move 830,000 barrels of crude oil daily between terminals in Hardisty, Alberta, and Steele City, Neb. Questioning the motivation for the Canadian energy giant’s request, the White House said “there might be politics at play” and Obama still meant to make the decision. He predicted Obama will deny the line instead of leaving it to his successor, to secure his environmental legacy.
The fundamental question over the Keystone XL debate is whether to use domestic oil or oil imported from Venezuela or the Middle East, TransCanada said.
The president of a major oilsands producer said he’s not too fussed about the Quebec terminal being scrapped.
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However, the Keystone XL project has been stalled for seven years already. Supporters say it will create jobs and benefit USA refiners, while preserving a good relationship between the USA and Canada.
