The State Department’s long-awaited environmental report on the
Keystone XL pipeline leaves President Barack Obama with no real
scientific reason to reject the nation’s most fiercely debated energy
project.
The sprawling 2,000-page report, released late Friday
afternoon, doesn’t issue a clear yea or nay on a sprawling section of
pipeline that would traverse from western Canada to Oklahoma. But the
report’s key takeaways — including a conclusion that the project would
have “no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed
Project route” — Obama may have been hemmed in by his own State
Department experts.
Environmentalists were left sputtering Friday while pro-pipeline forces
in Congress and industry insisted that this should leave no doubt that
the pipeline can be built safely and provide for jobs and a fresh source
of North American energy.
“Today’s report again makes clear there is no reason for this critical pipeline to be blocked one more day,” House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. “After four years of needless delays, it is time for President Obama to stand up for middle-class jobs and energy security and approve the Keystone pipeline.” (Continues)
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