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GOP governor urges Obama to reject proposed Keystone oil pipeline
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R) urged President Obama on Wednesday to reject a pending permit application for a controversial pipeline that would carry Canadian oil sands through his state.
In a letter to Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Heineman stressed that he is not opposed to oil pipelines generally. But he blasted TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline because it would cross part of Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer, which provides water for the state’s farmers and ranchers.
Heineman’s letter lends a high-profile Republican voice to ongoing efforts by environmentalists, ranchers, public lands groups and many Democrats to scuttle the project, which would carry Canadian oil sands from Alberta to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.
The Republican governor rejected the State Department’s final environmental impact statement, which said a pipeline spill would “affect a limited area of the aquifer around the spill site.”
“I disagree with this analysis, and I believe that the pipeline should not cross a substantial portion of the Ogallala Aquifer,” Heineman said.
The State Department, in the environmental impact statement released late last week, said there would be “no significant impacts to most resources” along the proposed route if the company adheres to conditions and mitigation measures that pipeline regulators and environmental agencies demand.
Environmental groups and others blasted the analysis, arguing it did not adequately analyze the potential for spills and the high levels of greenhouse gas emissions that result from oil sands production.
Environmental groups have ratcheted up political pressure on President Obama to reject TransCanada’s permit application in recent months, arguing that the final decision will be a “bellwether” for the White House on environmental policy. They staged a two-week protest in front of the White House, during which hundreds of people have been arrested.
Many Republicans and the oil industry are pressing the administration to approve the pipeline, arguing it will boost the economy and make the country less dependent on Middle Eastern oil.
The Obama administration is expected to make a final decision on the pipeline proposal by the end of the year, after a three-month public comment period and further analysis aimed at determining whether the project is in the national interest.
