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U.S. NEWSWednesday 4 November
Keystone Backers Look to Obama’s Successor for Greenlight
JOSH LEDERMAN The Keystone Steele City pumping station, into which the planned Keystone XL pipeline is to as world leaders prepare
Associated Press connect to, is seen in Steele City, Neb., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. TransCanada, the company behind to finalize an agreement in
WASHINGTON (AP) — The the project, said Monday it had asked the State Department to suspend its review of the Canada- Paris.
company pleading for per- to-Texas pipeline, citing uncertainties about the route it would take through Nebraska. For Obama, the 1,179-mile
mission to build the Key- (1,897-kilometer) proposed
stone XL pipeline looked (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) pipeline has swelled over
beyond President Barack the years into a behemoth
Obama on Tuesday in ap- urgency when faced with Elizabeth Trudeau said setting up a high bar for political hot potato. White
parent hopes a future Re- the prospect of letting the Tuesday. That was 2,601 approval. House spokesman Josh
publican president would next president make the days after TransCanada All of the major Democratic Earnest said Obama had
greenlight the project. But call. first proposed the $8 billion candidates oppose it — in- sought to “shield this pro-
the administration signaled The State Department, the project. For TransCanada, cluding front-runner Hill- cess from politics,” but the
it was in no mood to hand official arbiter of the pipe- a delay into 2017 might ary Rodham Clinton, who president’s many delays
off the decision to the win- line permit, said it was con- improve the prospects for oversaw the early phase have only injected more
ner of the 2016 election. sidering TransCanada’s approval — if a Republi- of the pipeline review as politics and posturing into
TransCanada insisted its new request but in the can wins the White House. Obama’s first-term secre- the national debate.
request for the U.S. to sus- meantime the pipeline re- The Republican presiden- tary of state. Republican Sen. John Ho-
pend its review of the pro- view would move forward tial field is unanimous in its Ahead of TransCanada’s even, a vocal Keystone
posed project had nothing unabated. support for Keystone, while request, Keystone support- supporter, said it would be
to do with presidential poli- “We’d like to finish this re- Obama has downplayed ers had feared Obama inconsistent for Obama to
tics even though a delay view process as swiftly as its benefits and empha- would seize on a brief win- reject TransCanada’s re-
could thrust the decision possible,” spokeswoman sized environmental risks, dow between Canada’s quest since the company
a year or more into the fu- recent elections and the has worked diligently to
ture, likely putting it in the conclusion of global cli- meet every legal and regu-
hands of Obama’s succes- mate talks next month to kill latory hurdle.
sor. Questioning the mo- the project in grand fash- “Are they going to have
tivation for the Canadian ion, solidifying his environ- a double standard here?
energy giant’s request, the mental bona fides. Obama They’ve held TransCan-
White House said “there hopes to make a global cli- ada up for almost seven
might be politics at play” mate pact the capstone of years,” Hoeven said in
and Obama still intended his environmental legacy an interview. While most
to make the decision. and has sought to show cross-border pipelines take
It was an unusual reversal aggressive action to curb less than 18 months to ap-
of roles for TransCanada, carbon dioxide emissions prove or reject, Keystone’s
which complained bitterly has dragged on since Sep-
for years about Obama’s tember 2008 — shortly be-
delays before suddenly fore Obama was elected.
requesting one of its own. In late 2011, Obama an-
Likewise, Obama’s admin- nounced he would hold off
istration, after seven years until after the 2012 election,
of delay, seemed to dis- taking the issue off the ta-
cover a newfound sense of ble for his own re-election
fight. When Congress tried
to force his hand, he re-
jected the application but
allowed TransCanada to
re-apply.
As envisioned, Keystone XL
would extend from Alber-
ta’s tar sands to Nebraska,
where it will connect with
existing pipelines carrying
crude oil to refineries along
the Texas Gulf Coast. q
