Obama's decision marked an unambiguous victory for environmental
activists who spent years denouncing the pipeline, lobbying the
administration and even chaining themselves to tractors to make their
point about the threat posed by dirty fossil fuels. It also places the
president and fellow Democrats in direct confrontation with Republicans
and energy advocates heading into the 2016 presidential election.
The president, announcing his decision at the White House, said he
agreed with a State Department conclusion that Keystone wouldn't advance
U.S. national interests. He lamented that both political parties had
"overinflated" Keystone into a proxy battle for climate change but
glossed over his own role in allowing the controversy to drag out over
several national elections.
"This pipeline would neither be a silver bullet for the economy, as was
promised by some, nor the express lane to climate disaster proclaimed by
others," he said.
Although Obama in 2013 said his litmus test for Keystone would be
whether it increased U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, his final decision
appeared based on other factors. He didn't broach that topic in his
remarks, and State Department officials said they'd determined Keystone
wouldn't significantly affect carbon pollution levels.
Instead, the administration cited the "broad perception" that
Keystone would carry "dirty" oil, and suggested approval would raise
questions abroad about whether the U.S. was serious about climate
change.
"Frankly, approving this project would have undercut that global leadership," the president said.
Obama will travel to Paris at the end of the month for talks on a
global climate agreement, which the president hopes will be the crowning
jewel for his environmental legacy. Killing the pipeline allows Obama
to claim aggressive action, strengthening his hand as world leaders
gather in France.
Though environmental groups hailed Friday as a "day of celebration,"
Obama's decision was unlikely to be the last word for Keystone XL.
TransCanada, the company behind the proposal, said it remained
"absolutely committed" to building the project and was considering
filing a new application for permits. The company has previously raised
the possibility of suing the U.S. to recoup the more than $2 billion it
says it has already spent on development.
"Today, misplaced symbolism was chosen over merit and science.
Rhetoric won out over reason," said TransCanada CEO Russ Girling. His
criticism was echoed by Republicans including House Speaker Paul Ryan,
who said Obama had rejected tens of thousands of jobs while railroading
Congress.
"This decision isn't surprising, but it is sickening," Ryan said.
On the other side, climate activists noted the widespread assumption
early in Obama's presidency that he'd eventually approve Keystone, and
said his apparent about-face proved how effective a no-holds-barred
advocacy campaign could be.
"Now every fossil fuel project around the world is under siege," said Bill McKibben of the environmental group 350.org.
Already, the issue has spilled over into the presidential race. The
Republican field is unanimous in support of Keystone, while the
Democratic candidates are all opposed — including Hillary Rodham
Clinton, who oversaw the early part of the federal review as Obama's
first-term secretary of state.
TransCanada first applied for Keystone permits 2,604 days ago in
September 2008 — shortly before Obama was elected. As envisioned,
Keystone would snake from Canada's tar sands through Montana, South
Dakota and Nebraska, then connect with existing pipelines to carry more
than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to specialized refineries along
the Texas Gulf Coast.
But Democrats and environmental groups latched onto Keystone as just
the type of project that must be phased out if the world is to seriously
combat climate change. Meanwhile, Republicans, Canadian politicians and
the energy industry argued the pipeline would create thousands of jobs
and inject billions into the economy. They accused Obama of hypocrisy
for complaining about a lack of U.S. infrastructure investment while
obstructing an $8 billion project.
Amid vote after vote in Congress to try to force Obama's hand, the
president seemed content to delay further and further. Most pipelines
wait roughly a year and a half for permits to cross the U.S. border, but
Keystone's review dragged on more than 5 times as long as average,
according to a recent Associated Press analysis.
The first major delay came in 2011, when Obama postponed a decision
until after his re-election, citing uncertainty about the proposed route
through Nebraska. When Congress passed legislation requiring a decision
within 60 days, he rejected the application but allowed TransCanada to
re-apply. He delayed again in 2014 — this time indefinitely — in a move
that delayed the decision until after the 2014 midterm elections.
Obama's decision on Friday risks creating a fresh point of tension in
his relationship with Canada's new government. After speaking by phone
with Obama on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was
"disappointed by the decision" but pledged to pursue a "fresh start"
with Obama nevertheless.
For TransCanada, the financial imperative to build Keystone may have
fallen off recently amid a sharp drop in oil prices that could make
extracting and transporting the product much less lucrative. TransCanada
has insisted that wasn't the case.
___
Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Matthew Daly, Kathleen Hennessey
and Matthew Lee in Washington and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to
this report.
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