By Ben Geman and Andrew Restuccia - 01/18/12
The Obama administration will reject the Keystone XL pipeline Wednesday afternoon, according to a source closely following the issue.
The State Department is expected to make an announcement at 3 p.m. Wednesday. While the administration is expected to reject TransCanada Corp.’s permit application, it will allow the company to re-apply, according to the source.
“The result of today’s announcement will be a massive call for both sides to ‘man your battle stations’ through the Sunday talk shows,” said Stephen Brown, a vice president for government affairs with Tesoro, a refining company.
Environmentalists, who have made stopping Keystone a top priority, and many Democrats oppose the proposal due to greenhouse gas emissions from Alberta’s massive oil sands projects and other ecological concerns.
But Republicans are hammering President Obama for failure to approve the project thus far, calling it a missed opportunity to create jobs and improve energy security.
Republicans have cited proposals to transport oil sands from Alberta to Asian markets via the British Columbia Coast in calling for U.S. approval of Keystone.
Bill McKibben, the environmentalist who has helped spearhead opposition to the project, cheered the apparent decision to reject the pipeline.
McKibben, head of the climate advocacy group 350.org. “But here, in the face of a naked political threat from Big Oil to exact 'huge political consequences,' he's stood up strong.”
His comment about the "threat" is a reference to recent remarks by the head of the American Petroleum Institute, the powerful industry trade group that recently warned of political “consequences” if Obama nixed Keystone XL.
They argue the administration could issue a permit for the massive project even as the review of Nebraska-specific issues continues, noting that TransCanada has already reached an agreement with Nebraska state officials to find a way around a sensitive Sand Hills region.
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