Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman notified the Obama administration Tuesday that he has approved the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline to traverse his state, marking a significant step toward reviving the project after President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sidelined it.
The governor approved a revised route for the Canada-to-Texas pipeline which his office said would avoid environmentally sensitive areas.
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“Construction and operation of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, with the mitigation and commitments from Keystone would have minimal environmental impacts in Nebraska,” he wrote in a letter to Obama and Clinton.
The decision on final approval now rests with the Obama administration. The State Department is expected to decide within the next few months whether to permit the project to go forward — Heineman’s approval puts Obama in a difficult political spot.
The president had previously cited the Nebraska’s concerns about the pipeline as a key obstacle to approving the pipeline. At the same time, the president was able assuage the concerns of major environmental groups who not only voiced concern about the potential impact of a spill but also the emissions created by extracting and refining oil from what are known as oil sands in Canada.
