State Department Assessment of Keystone XL Pipeline Sees Little Climate-Change Impact
An Obama administration analysis of the Keystone XL pipeline application shows the project wouldn't likely change the amount of oil ultimately removed from Canadian oil sands, suggesting building the pipeline would have little impact on global climate change.
The conclusion that the heavy crude would be extracted and delivered anyway left environmentalists disappointed. But the report isn't the last word on the matter. A final State Department study is to determine whether the pipeline project is in the nation’s broader interests. Eight agencies have up to three months to weigh in, potentially injecting the pipeline issue into the midterm election season.