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Obama delays Keystone decision until after 2012 reelection bid
The Obama administration announced Thursday it would delay a politically explosive decision on the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline until after the 2012 elections.
The pipeline is especially treacherous waters for President Obama because it splits key elements of his base. While green groups oppose it, several major unions are pushing for approval.
Keystone had become a serious thorn in Obama’a side, with environmental groups warning they’d feel betrayed if the pipeline moved forward.
The divide meant Obama could not help but disappoint one of the two sides with a definitive decision by his administration.
Instead, the administration announced a new evaluation of the project’s route to determine whether it would be safe for the public and environment.
“Because this permit decision could affect the health and safety of the American people as well as the environment, and because a number of concerns have been raised through a public process, we should take the time to ensure that all questions are properly addressed and all the potential impacts are properly understood,” Obama said in a statement.
The administration said that the final decision on the project will be based on a range of environmental issues – including climate change – as well as energy security, economic impacts and foreign policy.
The State Department is leading the federal review of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed $7 billion pipeline to bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.
The administration had initially hoped to make a decision on the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline by the end of the year, but State said the revised environmental review will take until early 2013 at the earliest, with a final decision to follow.
The Department cited “environmental sensitivities” in the proposed route and said it would look at alternative routes in Nebraska, where critics say the planned path would threaten a vital aquifer by traversing the Sand Hills region.
The decision drew immediate fire from senior Republicans and several oil industry and business groups.
“More than 20,000 new American jobs have just been sacrificed in the name of political expediency. By punting on this project, the President has made clear that campaign politics are driving U.S. policy decisions – at the expense of American jobs,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement.
American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard also accused the White House of making a decision based on politics, alleging that no more environmental review is needed for the pipeline that State has been weighing for years.
“This is about politics and keeping a radical constituency opposed to any and all oil and gas development in the president’s camp in November 2012,” he said.
Environmentalists, which have made killing the pipeline a top priority, welcomed the decision but made clear they will continue pressing the White House to reject the project outright.
“The president should know that nothing that happened today changes our position — we’re unequivocal in our opposition,” said Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org who is a key organizer behind the anti-Keystone movement.
“If this pipeline proposal re-emerges from the review process intact we will use every form of nonviolent civil disobedience to keep it from ever being built,” he said.
Unions backing the pipeline include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Teamsters, the Laborers’ International Union, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters for the United States and Canada, and others.
Labor, however, is not united on the matter – the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Transport Workers Union both oppose Keystone XL.
Green groups, who have staged a pair of White House demonstrations against the project in recent months, have threatened that approval would sap green-minded voters' appetites to knock on doors and conduct other work on Obama’s behalf next year.
Environmentalists oppose the project due to greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive oil sands projects, damage to Alberta’s boreal forests, potential spills along the pipeline route and other concerns.
The delay provides at least a partial victory for activists, who suffered a bitter political defeat two months ago when Obama scuttled upcoming EPA smog regulations.
“President Obama is displaying leadership and courage by putting the interests of the American people before those of Big Oil,” said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This is a major advance in the fight against climate change and is further progress toward a clean energy future and a healthier people.”
The decision, while reliving some immediate pressure from environmentalists, may create new difficulties for Obama.
A spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told The New York Times that Harper’s government is “disappointed” but remains hopeful about winning final approval.
“We continue to believe the Keystone XL pipeline will create thousands of jobs and billions in economic growth on both sides of the border,” Harper spokesman said Andrew MacDougall said.
TransCanada CEO Russ Girling, who has strongly defended the safety of the pipeline that would carry hundreds of thousands of barrels per day, said the company remains confident the pipeline will win approval.
“This project is too important to the U.S. economy, the Canadian economy and the national interest of the United States for it not to proceed,” he said.
