WH,State: More Keystone environmental study needed

Congress has passed legislation requiring action on the Keystone XL pipeline in the next 60 days, but the State Department and the White House want more time to conduct environmental impact studies on the pipeline construction and routing.

“We want to get the appropriate environmental impact study of [the pipeline route] before we can make a national interest determination,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said yesterday when asked about the congressional legislation, noting also “that the presidential authority here has been delegated to the State Department.”