Until recently, it would have been unimaginable for the Calgary, Alberta-based company to ask for a delay.
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If granted, the suspension would have put off the final decision for 7 to 12 months while the Nebraska question was resolved. Neither the executive order process nor State Department procedures for review contain any provisions for suspending the evaluation, they said.
State Department officials said the administration’s review of the project-now in its seventh year-would continue, barring a decision by TransCanada to withdraw its application altogether.
The State Department has jurisdiction over the review because the pipeline would cross a United States border.
Kirby declined to foreshadow the outcome of State Department’s ongoing “national interest” review, which appears to be nearing an end, after developing a series of environmental analyses, considering millions of public comments and hearing from other agencies.
All of the major Democratic candidates oppose it – including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Key Republican lawmakers overwhelmingly support it.
The decision by the State Department gives further motivation for environmentalists to work against the Keystone XL pipeline, said 350.org communications director Jamie Henn.
Speculation, though, runs rampant that the move is a thinly veiled effort to find a more supportive president in 2016 and head off what most expect to be a decision by President Obama to deny the Keystone XL permit altogether. Additionally, in light of the recent drop in crude prices, uncertainty exists about the cost competitiveness of Canadian oil sands crude, a relatively capital- and energy-intensive product. They also warn that pipeline leaks could potentially pollute underground aquifers that are a critical source of water for farmers in the Great Plains.
“There’s no obligation to pause”, spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington. “Now President Obama should protect the climate and the people along the route by killing this project once and for all”, said Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica in a statement.
As for the rejection of its delay request, the company said very little. Supporters maintain it will create jobs and reduce USA reliance on Middle Eastern oil.
Tim Duboyce, a TransCanada spokesperson, said the pipeline company doesn’t fear any regulation changes from the new Trudeau government.
TransCanada, which reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, said it is pushing to develop Energy East, an alternative to Keystone XL. TransCanada changed the route, which was approved by Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman in January 2013.
Both North Dakota senators, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp and Republican John Hoeven, criticized the Obama administration’s long delay in approving the pipeline. The company said in a letter it wanted to first go through a state review process in Nebraska.
Keystone XL is a 1,187-mile proposed pipeline running from the Alberta, Canada, tar sands down to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
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The Keystone saga not only cast a shadow over Canada-U.S. relations, but also inspired new fights against other pipelines.
