Keystone XL Pipeline Clears Hurdle

The Keystone XL Pipeline extension, a proposed 1,700-mile pipeline that would link expanding Canadian tar sands oil production with America’s refining hub in the Midwest and along the Gulf, today cleared a major regulatory hurdle when the State Department concluded that the project would have a “limited environmental adverse impact.”

This is the second-to-last step of the permitting process; within the next 90 days, the State Department must determine whether the project is in the national interest. If the Keystone Pipeline passes this final hurdle, then it would receive a Presidential Permit, and construction could commence.

It is difficult to imagine how the project could not be considered to be in America’s interest: It would increase oil imports by up to 830,000 barrels a day from Canada, our closest ally. Moreover, as is explained in a recent CEI study by Mike Milke, Canada is the only major oil-exporting country besides Norway that scores highly on all measurements of civil, political, and economic freedom, including the rights of women to full career, medical, and travel choices; on media freedom, religious freedom, and property rights; as well as on other measurements such as judicial independence and relative freedom from corruption. Most importantly, the $7 billion project would create 20,000 high-wage manufacturing jobs and construction jobs, according to an independent analysis by the Perryman Group.

For more on the Keystone Pipeline, see this excellent commentary from Robert Samuelson in today’s Washington Post.