Obama kills Keystone pipeline

TransCanada said Monday it asked the State Department to delay making a decision on its permit to build the 1,187-mile Keystone XL pipeline from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast refineries until the Nebraska Public Service Commission makes a decision on the proposed route.

The request was widely seen as an attempt to try and push the decision to the next administration, but the State Department didn’t bite. A spokesman for the department said earlier this week the request would not change the decision-making process.

The rejection is a decision years in the making that was widely expected in many energy and environmental circles.

The proposed pipeline would have run from Alberta through Montana to South Dakota and Nebraska before heading to the Gulf Coast.

However, the project had been the subject of intense scrutiny from environmental activists since its onset. Green groups were concerned about the pipeline’s proximity to the Ogallal Aquifer that provides groundwater to much of the Great Plains states, in addition to the amount of oil that could have been introduced into the marketplace and its effect on climate change.

Many scientists blame the burning of fossil fuels for climate change and increasing temperatures around the world.

The pipeline could have moved as many as 830,000 barrels of oil per day.

The decision could be a huge blow to companies’ attempts to drill in the Canadian tar sands. The bitumen oil taken from tar sands is much harder to move through rail than by pipeline, and many industry observers believe the Keystone XL pipeline was necessary to fully develop the area.

State Department analyses since the pipeline was proposed found it would be a job creator and have a negligible impact on climate change. However, given President Obama’s late-term push to solidify his legacy of fighting against climate change, many expected the rejection was coming for months.

Bill McKibben, executive director of 350.org and one of the leading anti-Keystone XL activists, celebrated the news as a massive win for greens.

“President Obama is the first world leader to reject a project because of its effect on the climate,” McKibben said. “That gives him new stature as an environmental leader, and it eloquently confirms the five years and millions of hours of work that people of every kind put into this fight. We’re still awfully sad about Keystone south and are well aware that the next president could undo all this, but this is a day of celebration.”

McKibben’s point that the decision could be undone by the next administration shows that the pipeline could still be an issue in the 2016 election.

At this point, all the Democratic candidates for president have come out against the pipeline but all of the Republican candidates have expressed support for the project.

But, for the time being the decision will cement Obama’s reputation as a climate change fighters, said Gene Karpinsky, president of the League of Conservation Voters.

“With this historic decision President Obama has cemented his legacy as a true champion in the fight against climate change,” he said. “The president is showing the world that our country is committed to a clean energy future that will limit carbon pollution and protect the health of our kids and future generations. We couldn’t be more thrilled that this extremely thorough process has finally reached the right conclusion.”

The push for the pipeline from energy groups has slackened in recent months as the price of oil has plummeted. The collapse of oil prices has led to a number of canceled drilling projects, delays in pipeline construction and layoffs of oil industry workers.

The decision is already causing a hit to TransCanada, which saw its stock price drop more than 5 percent since the opening of the stock market Friday morning.

• This article was originally published at 11:20 a.m. and has been updated.