WASHINGTON–A Canadian firm said it will consider alternatives to avoid sending a controversial pipeline through the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills of Nebraska.
Last week, President Barack Obama backed the decision by his State Department to delay until 2013 a ruling on a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Opponents of the project, which would bring oil produced from tar sand in Canada to Oklahoma and Texas, see the move as at least a temporary win.
“The American people spoke loudly about climate change and the president responded,” Bill McKibben, pipeline opponent and founder of 350.org, wrote on the website TarSandsAction.org. “There have been few even partial victories about global warming in recent years so that makes this an important day.”
Tar Sands Action opposes the project because of potential environmental impact to wetlands and because of higher levels of greenhouse gas produced by burning tar sands. A State Department report estimated an increase of between “3 and 21 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually” from using fuel from tar sand instead of crude oil.
Sunday thousands of opponents to the project protested at the White House, according to published reports.
The State Department, which is responsible for reviewing presidential permits for international pipelines, decided to postpone a final ruling in order to evaluate an alternative route to avoid an environmentally sensitive area in Nebraska, according to a statement.
“The concern about the proposed route’s impact on the Sand Hills of Nebraska has increased significantly over time, and has resulted in the Nebraska legislature convening a special session to consider the issue,” the statement read.
The State Department expects to complete a review of alternative routes as soon as early 2013, after next year’s presidential election.
Obama supported the decision.
“Because this permit decision could affect the health and safety of the American people as well as the environment, and because a number of concerns have been raised through a public process, we should take the time to ensure that all questions are properly addressed and all the potential impacts are properly understood,” he said in a statement.
TransCanada will work with the State Department to review alternative routes, according to a statement.
“We remain confident Keystone XL will ultimately be approved,” TransCanada president Russ Girling said in the statement.