Fox Business News:
The Obama Administration rejected the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project on Wednesday, scuttling a key energy initiative that would have created an influx of badly-needed U.S. jobs, but one that has also riled environmentalists.
The news, which was first reported by FOX News Channel, sparked a fierce response from Republicans and proponents of the project.
It also triggered a selloff in shares of Calgary-based TransCanada (TRP: 42.36, +0.21, +0.50%), which was poised to build the crude oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. After slumping to as low as $39.74, TransCanada was recently down just 0.84% at $41.39.
The White House, which faced a February 21 deadline to make a final decision on the project, blamed Republicans.
“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,” President Barack Obama said in a statement.
However, Obama said the announcement “is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline” that prevented the fact-finding needed to approve the project.
The rest here.
The Keystone XL pipeline (at 1,600 miles) represents about a 1% increase in the petroleum pipeline infrastructure in this country. There are currently about 161,000 miles of petroleum pipeline in the country and a total of 2.3 million miles of pipeline when you include natural gas pipeline. [Source: http://phmsa.dot.gov/about/faq] So it's not like this Keystone thing is a new idea as far as a way to best transport oil.
Even better, here is the quote on the usefulness of pipelines directly from the same Obama admin website linked above. "They are essential: the volumes of energy products they move are well beyond the capacity of other forms of transportation." The same website also mentions how dangerous tanker trucks are removed from the roads and includes the statement, "Pipeline systems are the safest means to move these products."
Given America's energy needs, and the risk and cost of moving large amounts of oil by tanker truck, one wonders how President Obama can seriously make the case that this pipeline is an endeavor that's too risky to undertake.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf the issue was "an arbitrary deadline" that did not allow enough time for information gathering, why was the decision made over a month before the deadline? Couldn't the additional month have been used to at least determine how much extra time was needed for a full analysis and then request that congress extend the deadline rather than simply deciding to scrap the project because there wasn't time for an assessment?
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