The longstanding Keystone XL pipeline could face delays and opposition once again.
Late last month, the United States Senate voted in favor of approving the Keystone XL pipeline. The Republican-led Senate voted 62-36 to avoid the Obama administration’s review Keystone, which was only five short to overturn a potential veto by President Obama. All Republicans voted in favor in addition to nine Democrats.
The president has already stated that he will veto any bill that approves of the oil pipeline, which would extend from Alberta to the state of Texas. With that latest statement issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), he may have another tool in his arsenal to present his case to the American people.
In a letter made public Tuesday and authored by EPA assistant administrator Cynthia Giles, the EPA dismissed the notion made by proponents of the pipeline that it will not contribute or have any impact on greenhouse gas emissions. President Obama noted that he won’t support any bill that promotes Keystone if it was found the pipeline would generate new amounts of carbon dioxide.
The EPA cited a State Department study produced last year that highlighted how the oilsands brings about more GHGs per barrel than any other type of crude. Essentially, based on the evidence and falling oil prices, there should be a modification to the assessment of Keystone’s environmental impact and revisit these conditions.
“Until ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of oil sands are more successful and widespread, [the State Department report] makes clear that, compared to reference crudes, development of oil sands crude represents a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions,” said Giles.
The long-pending pipeline project could be delayed yet again because the State Department could perform another review of the oilsands.
Alberta Progressive Conservative Premier Jim Prentice noted that the EPA does not in essence oppose the project and the province’s environmental policies aren’t garnering any concerns among U.S. lawmakers during his visit to Washington this month.
“Alberta’s environmental performance is first in class. If there is a producer of oil somewhere in the world that has better and higher environmental standards than Alberta, I don’t know who it is,” said the premier in a statement. “The issue in Washington today is not Alberta’s environmental performance.”
Prentice added that the development and growth of the oilsands doesn’t depend upon the Keystone XL pipeline nor the tumbling oil prices. From a long-term perspective, it still remains a viable option, concluded Prentice.
Various U.S. and Canadian environmental organizations have celebrated the EPA’s decision.
“The EPA has just reconfirmed what has been clear all along: the Keystone XL [oilsands] pipeline fails the president’s climate test,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, in a statement. “These comments make it clear that this dirty and dangerous project would significantly increase carbon pollution. That’s the standard the president has set for rejecting Keystone XL, so we fully expect him to do just that.”
Others aren’t so keen on the EPA’s findings. QMI Agency’s Lorne Gunter accused the Obama White House of taking a trick of Al Gore and the Clinton Administration by allowing eco lobbyists to dictate environmental policy.
“During Obama’s tenure, few important bills have passed with such wide margins. Keystone even managed to earn the votes of nine Democratic senators. And the project is just as widely popular with American voters,” opined Gunter on Tuesday.
“For all his bravado, Obama would rather not veto Keystone, even though the Senate fell five votes shy of a veto-proof majority. Killing the pipeline would not only drive down the president’s own improving approval rating, it would enable the Republicans to paint the Democrats as captives of the anti-jobs “greens” in the run up to the 2016 presidential election.”
According to an ABC/Washington Post poll published early last year, 65 percent of Americans say the federal government should approve the pipeline, which is an increase from the 59 percent support reported in 2012.
