Lee-Anne Goodman
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama says TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline should only be approved by U.S. authorities if it won’t lead to a net increase of greenhouse gas emissions.
Obama made the statement today as he unveiled a national plan to combat climate change.
He weighed in on Keystone despite suggestions he would steer clear of the controversial project, which is in the midst of a State Department review.
Obama says ensuring the project doesn’t “significantly exacerbate” emissions is critical to determining whether it will be allowed to go ahead.
He says the project needs to be in the national interest of the United States in order to win approval.
US President Barack Obama wipes his brow as he speaks on climate change on June 25, 2013 at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty)
Keystone XL has become a flashpoint for U.S. environmentalists, who have branded it a symbol of “dirty oil” amid a fierce public relations battle against the project.
At the same time, Calgary-based TransCanada has been pouring money into lobbying efforts in the U.S. capital. The company’s CEO, Russ Girling, said recently that he’s confident it will ultimately win approval.
The draft environmental report on the pipeline by State Department officials, released in April, suggested Keystone XL’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions would be minimal. The powerful Environmental Protection Agency, meantime, questioned that finding.
Obama rejected the pipeline in early 2012, but invited TransCanada to file a new application with an altered route that would skirt Nebraska’s ecologically sensitive Sand Hills region. TransCanada did so, earning the thumbs-up from the state of Nebraska.
A final decision on the project form the State Department is expected this fall. After that, it will be up to Obama to bless or block Keystone XL.
Obama’s comments came as he provided details of new U.S. climate change regulations will cut carbon emissions at power plants and require federal projects to better prepare for the sort of extreme weather that has left much of Calgary underwater.
He’ll use his executive authority to implement most of the proposals, bypassing congressional lawmakers reluctant to move on climate change.
Obama is directing the EPA, for example, to initiate regulations on carbon emissions from existing coal and gas-fired utilities by next June, and to kick-start similar rules on new power plants.
He’s also instructing Interior Department to issue permits for new wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects on public lands in efforts that could fuel more than six million American homes within seven years.
