US Denies Request To Delay Keystone Application

The Obama administration says it is continuing a review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite a request by the project’s developer to suspend the review.

A State Department spokesman says there’s no obligation, nor is there a legal basis, for slowing down a permit-review process US government rebuffs TransCanada: No pausing KXL pipeline review at the behest of an applicant.

In recognition that its campaign is heading for near certain failure, TransCanada hopes to delay the review process of its proposed Keystone XL pipeline until the next administration. “The secretary believes that it’s most appropriate to keep that process in place”, he continued.

It’s been expected that President Obama will make a decision before he leaves office, but he’s waiting on the State Department’s final review of the project before he does so.

The State Department, the official arbiter of the pipeline permit, said it was considering TransCanada’s new request but in the meantime the pipeline review would move forward unabated.

Washington has spent more than seven years deciding whether to approve the northern leg of the $8 billion pipeline, which would take oil from Alberta’s tar sands to USA refineries. Cooper said. “We believe the answer is clear and the choice is Keystone XL”. Trudeau supports the Keystone XL pipeline but to a lesser degree than predecessor Stephen Harper.

If the State Department had paused the review, the decision would likely have fallen to the next US president. The decision all but guarantees Mr. Obama, who has sounded skeptical of Keystone’s merit and reportedly is leaning toward killing the pipeline, will be the one to decide whether the project moves ahead or is scrapped.

“A lot of work has gone into this to date, and the secretary wants that work to continue”.

“There’s just no way to square taking strong action on climate change and moving forward with these pipelines”, Adam Scott of Environmental Defence said Tuesday. He predicted Obama will deny the line instead of leaving it to his successor, to secure his environmental legacy.

Oddly enough, TransCanada’s reason for asking the administration to put a hold on the review has been used by the White House itself when it chose to pause process. But surely you’ve heard about the Keystone XL because it’s the northern spotted owl of current politics: shorthand for the jobs vs. environment debate.

“Above and beyond that, once this pipeline goes into operation we will be spending a $100 million per year in Quebec on electricity bills, on municipal taxes, on our own operational costs”, he said.

Republican presidential candidates have said they support the project, while Democrats Sanders and Hillary Clinton oppose it.

But the immediate fate of the project is in Obama’s hands.