Canada’s Keystone blues

If U.S. President Barack Obama is a man of his word, he will approve the Keystone XL pipeline. But is he?

In January, 2013, Obama said in a speech at Georgetown University: “The net effects of the (Keystone) pipeline’s impact on our climate will be absolutely critical in determining whether this project will be allowed to go forward.”

Obama said he would only approve it, “if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”

In January, 2014, after its second review of Keystone, the U.S. State Department reported to Obama that, “approval or denial of any one crude oil transport project, including (Keystone), is unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands, or the continued demand for heavy crude oil at refineries in the United States.” In fact, the State Department added, if the pipeline is not completed, the proposed alternative methods of transporting oil from Western Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast will result in greenhouse gas emission increases compared to Keystone of 28% to 42%.

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