US Informs TransCanada of Decision to Continue Keystone XL Pipeline Review

A decision had been reportedly expected this week, though whether this will proceed on schedule was unclear at the time of this writing.

“We feel under the current circumstances a similar suspension would be appropriate”, said CEO Russ Girling.

TransCanada Corp scrapped plans to build a port in Quebec and said on Thursday it will have only one export terminal for its Energy East pipeline project.

There’s no indication that TransCanada, which insisted on Tuesday that its request had nothing to do with politics, wants to call it quits for good. “After such a long review process this was a ridiculous ploy from TransCanada”, said League of Conservation Voters Senior Vice President Tiernan Sittenfeld. State first received the permit application in 2008.

TransCanada issued a statement after the State Department decision, saying it respects the decision.

Former Gov. Dave Heineman approved a Nebraska route for Keystone XL in 2013 after a review by the state Department of Environmental Quality.

The State Department has rejected TransCanada’s request to suspend its evaluation of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Net income attributable to the company fell 12 percent to C$402 million, or 57 Canadian cents per share, from $457 million, or 64 cents, in the quarter. It is clear, however, that public safety is best served when crude oil is transported through pipelines instead of the backyards of Minnesotans and others who live along oil train routes. The pipeline would run 1,179 miles from the Canadian oil sands in Alberta to refineries in Texas.

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.

TransCanada’s plea has been widely interpreted as an attempt to avert an impending “no” from Obama to the almost 1,200-mile cross-border pipeline.

The Congressional Review Act, a measure to effectively end a federal regulation from taking effect, passed the Senate 53-44, setting up a potential veto from President Obama.

The move was yet another development in a saga that now dates back seven years and has been cast by many environmental groups as an indicator of the US President’s overall approach to climate change.

“We’ve worked very hard for seven years to try to keep our head down and work our way through every twist and turn and every additional request through the regulatory process”, Girling said.

During his remarks at a rally for the legislation held outside the Capitol, Sanders, who is running for President as a Democrat, extensively slammed Republicans who resists climate change action.

Secretary of State John Kerry has not given a timeline for making a recommendation on the $8 billion project. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, opposes the pipeline but the Republican candidates support it.

The issue has increasingly become a political headache for Trudeau: A top campaign official was forced to step down a week before the election over a personal email to TransCanada instructing the company on how to lobby the government.

“My opinion is the new government coming in is looking at this as a pragmatic way of handling it”, Hoeven said.