Good news: Keystone XL pipeline clears big environmental hurdle

Nebraska Sandhills

After years of dithering by the Obama administration, there is finally some good news for Americans in regards to the Keystone pipeline. If it is finally approved, the project will bring much needed petroleum from our friends in Canada, lessening our dependence on oil from hostile governments in the Middle East--as well as Venezuela.

From Bloomberg:

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline cleared a key hurdle today with a government study that found its impact on the climate would be minimal, which supporters said meets President Barack Obama's test for allowing the project to be built.

In its final environmental review, the U.S. State Department found the Canada-U.S. oil pipeline would not greatly increase carbon emissions because the oil sands in Alberta will be developed anyway.

The study, while not the final word, is important because Obama has said he wouldn't approve Keystone if it would exacerbate carbon pollution. Now the pipeline's fate comes down to broader questions about whether the project is in the U.S. national interest, weighing matters such as energy needs and diplomatic relations.

"We are one step closer toward approval of the Keystone XL pipeline," Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat and pipeline supporter, said in a statement. "Not only is it unacceptable, but it's embarrassing that we cannot approve a pipeline application in the time it took us to fight World War II."

This announcement was released late Friday afternoon, in an attempt by the White House to lessen outrage from anti-energy environmentalists, as many people are paying attention to their weekend plans, not current events.

Look for the greenies to claim that the pipeline will somehow destroy the Nebraska Sandhills in their next move against KXL.

Keystone, if finally approved, will create 120,000 American jobs.

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