I remain amazed at the liberal argument that the Keystone pipeline is an environmental disaster.
How? Consider the trucks and rail tankers that will no longer be needed. A similar, “Oh, but the caribou will die” argument was attempted by the treehuggers to stop the Alaska pipeline. Not only are the pipeline and the caribou coexisting well, the caribou actually love the pipeline because it is warm and green grass grows around it even in cold weather.
The State Department finally has approved the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ending a back-and-forth process inside the federal government that lasted nearly a decade, reports The Washington Times.
Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas A. Shannon issued the presidential permit Friday morning, representing the Trump administration’s formal green-lighting of the Canada-to-Texas pipeline. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had recused himself from the Keystone review process.
TransCanada, the company that will build the project, praised President Trump for undoing the decision of his predecessor.
“We greatly appreciate President Trump’s Administration for reviewing and approving this important initiative and we look forward to working with them as we continue to invest in and strengthen North America’s energy infrastructure,” said TransCanada CEO Russ Girling.
The Obama administration rejected Keystone in late 2015 citing concerns over climate change, even though the State Department’s research has found the pipeline won’t raise North American greenhouse-gas emissions but will create more than 40,000 jobs. When completed, the pipeline would carry oil from Alberta, Canada, through the U.S. heartland to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
The battle over Keystone now moves to Nebraska, where the pipeline still does not have a legal route through the state. Environmental groups are vowing new legal challenges in Nebraska in a last-ditch effort to stop the project.
