The head of the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline called President Obama’s rejection of the project “misplaced symbolism” and left open the possibility of another application in the future.
TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said the company is disappointed in the Obama administration’s decision to reject the 1,187-mile pipeline that would have run from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico.
“Today, misplaced symbolism was chosen over merit and science — rhetoric won out over reason,” Girling said.
Obama announced at the White House that he was rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline because it is not in the national interests of the United States. The decision was made to give the American representatives heading to Paris at the end of the month for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change firmer ground to stand on when pressuring other nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
The pipeline would have run from Alberta through Montana to South Dakota and Nebraska before heading to the Gulf Coast. The pipeline could have moved as many as 830,000 barrels of oil per day.
Estimates from the State Department show the pipeline would have created tens of thousands of jobs in the United States and Canada. Tar sands oil in Alberta is dirty, but the pipeline itself would have had a negligible impact on climate change.
Girling left open the possibility of TransCanada applying for a permit under a different administration. All the Democratic presidential candidates are against the pipeline, but all the Republicans candidates would likely OK the project.
He said the State Department determined the pipeline would have safely transported hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day. Denying the pipeline is unlikely to affect the rate of production of tar sands oil, he said, and he believes the department should have approved the project.
“Today’s decision cannot be reconciled with the conclusions of the State Department’s comprehensive seven-year review of the project,” he said.
Industry groups took aim at the Obama administration following the decision, with the American Petroleum Institute calling the rejection an “assault against American workers.”
“It’s ironic that the administration would strike a deal to allow Iranian crude onto the global market while refusing to give our closest ally, Canada, access to U.S. refineries,” said CEO Jack Gerard. “This decision will cost thousands of jobs and is an assault to American workers. It’s politics at its worst.”
Tom Pyle, president of the pro-fossil fuel group Institute for Energy Research, said the decision wasn’t a surprise but still went against the will of the American people.
“This president is as out of touch with the American people as much as he’s in lockstep with national environmental pressure groups,” Pyle said.
