(Puneet Kollipara/Fuel Fix)
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday refused to authorize the Keystone XL oil pipeline, saying a congressionally imposed deadline left too little time to evaluate routes that would avoid an aquifer in Nebraska.
In rejecting the permit, however, the State Department said Canadian pipeline company TransCanada Corp. can reapply to build the link between oil sands in Alberta and Gulf Coast refineries. TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said the company was disappointed but will reapply after mapping another route around the Ogallala aquifer, a source for drinking and irrigation water, later this year.
The pipeline has been an election year lightning rod across the political spectrum. Republican and industry leaders are painting the pipeline as creating jobs and boosting U.S. energy security. Environmentalists and many Democrats argue that the pipeline would promote a particularly polluting form of crude oil and could threaten water supplies.
President Barack Obama — faced with pressure from key constituencies on both sides of the issue — sought to lay his decision on Republican lawmakers.
“The rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment,’’ Obama said. “As a result, the secretary of state has recommended that the application be denied. And after reviewing the State Department’s report, I agree.”
(Read the full story at Fuel Fix)
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OPINIONS OF NOTE:
- Editorial Page: Wrong Decision on Keystone XL pipeline (Houston Chronicle)
- Editorial Page: A Good Call on the Pipeline (New York Times)
- Reax Roundup: The Keystone XL Rejection, As Seen from Texas (State Impact Texas)