Referring to the request to suspend the application as “unusual”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Tuesday said that the fact that a presidential election is one year away is no reason for the administration not to finally rule on Keystone.
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TransCanada sent a letter to the US State Department on Monday requesting of the suspension of a permit application to build the almost 1,200-mile pipeline from Calgary, Alberta, across the U.S. border and into parts of Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska.
CEO Russ Girling said the company has tried to steer clear of politics as the project has made its way through various regulatory processes since being proposed, according to the Canadian Press.
An outright rejection would be a death knell for the pipeline meant to ship 830,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude to Nebraska and the US Gulf Coast. But with the White House maintaining that Obama will decide on the issue before he leaves office, activists said they may be close to a win in the environmental battle that has come to symbolize partisan fervor over fossil fuels. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her main challengers for the Democratic nomination are already on record as opposing it. All of the leading Republican presidential candidates support the pipeline. She also said she wasn’t aware of any requirement for the U.S.to consult with Canada on the company’s request.
“Even when President Obama didn’t step up and make a decision, the people had enough power to sway the corporation itself”, said Luisa Abbott Galvao, climate and energy campaigner with Friends of the Earth.
TransCanada says it needs to put the application on hold until it can resolve a few differences with the state of Nebraska, where landowners have challenged the pipeline’s planned route.
“The prospects for KXL approval by the USA had been dim, but the ascension of the new Trudeau government, with its serious commitment to meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets matching those of the United States, could change the dynamic”, Goldwyn said. “President Obama has all the evidence he need to reject the Keystone XL now”.
Environmental groups characterized TransCanada’s request as a triumph while urging Obama to not hesitate to deny a permit. Because the pipeline would cross the border between the U.S. and Canada, the State Department is responsible for providing a recommendation to Obama.
For years, pipeline opponents repeatedly asked officials to postpone the project for more scrutiny, while company officials complained about delays and pressed for faster action.
Stephen Kretzmann, executive director of Oil Change global, said, “TransCanada is losing and everyone – including them – knows it. When you’re losing in the final seconds you commit a bunch of fouls and call all your timeouts”.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization from TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline system rose 32 percent to C$363 million (US$275.90 million) in the third quarter, helped by higher uncontracted volumes and a stronger USA dollar.
Earnest said the company’s request to halt the review process has not changed that timeline.
Several Republican candidates running for president in next year’s election have expressed support for the pipeline.
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A decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada is expected at a few point during the Obama presidency, a White House spokesman said. The proposed $8 billion pipeline would stretch 1,179-miles and connect the Alberta tar sands to an existing pipeline in Nebraska. “The price of oil is $40 per oil again today”.
