After waiting seven years for a decision, the company behind the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas has asked the US Department of State to suspend its review of the project.
The move comes as the administration of US President Barack Obama increasingly appears likely to reject the pipeline permit application before leaving office in January 2017.
TransCanada said on Monday it had sent a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry requesting that the Department of State suspend its review of the pipeline application. Until recently, it would have been unimaginable for the Calgary, Alberta-based company to ask for a delay.
The pipeline company said such a suspension would be appropriate while it works with Nebraska authorities to secure approval of its preferred route through the state that is facing legal challenges in the courts. TransCanada anticipated it would take seven to 12 months to get route approval from Nebraska authorities.
The US Department of State review is mandated as part of the application process because the US$8 billion pipeline crosses an international border. The department does not have to grant TransCanada’s request for a pause in the review and instead can continue the process.
“We have just received TransCanada’s letter to Secretary Kerry and are reviewing it. In the meantime, consideration under the executive order continues,” US Department of State spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said.
The White House declined to comment, referring all questions to the Department of State.
Ahead of TransCanada’s announcement on Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama intended to make a decision on the pipeline before his presidency ends in January 2017, although he declined to elaborate on the time line.
Hillary Rodham Clinton and her main challengers for the Democratic presidential nomination are already on record as opposing Keystone XL. All of the Republican candidates support the pipeline.
Some pipeline opponents contend that TransCanada hopes to delay the review process in hopes that a more sympathetic Republican administration would move into the White House in 2017 and approve it.
“In defeat, TransCanada is asking for extra time from the referees and clearly hoping they’ll get a new head official after the election. It’s time for the current umpire, President Obama, to reject this project once and for all,” environmental activist Bill McKibben said.
Jane Kleeb, executive director of the group Bold Nebraska, which opposes the pipeline project, also said TransCanada is only asking for a pause because they hope a Republican president would approve the pipeline.
Keystone XL has long been a flashpoint in the US debate over climate change. Critics oppose the concept of tapping the Alberta oil sands, saying it requires huge amounts of energy and water, and increases greenhouse gas emissions. They also express concern that leaks could potentially pollute underground aquifers that are a critical source of water to farmers on the Great Plains.
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
Former Chinese ministers of national defense Wei Fenghe(魏鳳和) and Li Shangfu (李尚福) were both sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over graft charges, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday, underscoring the severity of the purge in the military. The armed forces have been one of the main targets of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) after coming to power in 2012. The purges reached the elite Rocket Force, which oversees nuclear weapons as well as conventional missiles, in 2023. Earlier this year they escalated further, resulting in the removal of the top general in
The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday said it deployed aircraft to issue radio warnings to a Chinese research ship in a disputed area of the South China Sea “swarming” with vessels from Beijing’s so-called maritime militia. The research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 33 (向陽紅33), which is capable of supporting submersible craft, was operating near a reef in the contested Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), which Taiwan also claims, the Philippine Coast Guard said. The Chinese ship was deploying a service boat toward the Spratly’s Iroquois Reef on Wednesday when it was spotted by a coast guard plane, “confirming ongoing unauthorized [marine scientific research]
New Zealand is open to expanding its frigate fleet beyond its current two vessels, with New Zealand Minister of Defence Chris Penk saying “no options are off the table” as the government weighs buying new warships from Japan or the UK. The government yesterday said it is looking to replace its two aging Anzac-class frigates, which were both commissioned almost 30 years ago. The UK’s Type 31 and Japan’s Mogami-class warships are the options under consideration. Speaking in an interview, Penk said there is potential to increase the number of frigates the nation purchases. “We need a certain amount of capability as a
RSS