A Six-Year Delay on Keystone XL

Remarkably, it has been six years since Canadian energy company TransCanada applied to construct the Keystone XL pipeline. Despite the time lag, Nicolas Loris of the Heritage Foundation says the pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada down to America’s Gulf Coast, is just as good of an idea today as it was in 2008. Why?

– It will create temporary construction jobs across the route. Loris says the southern portion of the route has already been constructed and created 5,000 construction jobs in addition to adding $2.1 billion to Oklahoma’s economy and $3.6 billion to the Texas economy.
– Will it hurt the environment? Not according to the State Department, which has reviewed the project multiple times and found minimal environmental risks.
– The State Department also concluded there would be no greenhouse gas impact from the pipeline, because Canada plans to pump and ship oil regardless of whether Keystone XL is constructed.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of Nebraska dismissed a lawsuit challenging the proposed Keystone XL route. Three landowners had sued over the project, but the court rejected their case. Previously, the Obama administration had cited the Nebraska lawsuit as a reason for delaying a decision on the pipeline, so project supporters are calling on the president to make a decision.

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