STATE DEPARTMENT PUTS BRAKES ON KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

The Department of State is planning to put the brakes on the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Reuters reports. After seeming to be a foregone conclusion, approval by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama of the $7 billion Canada-to-Texas pipeline hit a wall of popular opposition and scandal. Climate activists mobilized across the nation, risking arrests in acts of civil disobedience, to raise the alarm about the civilizational risks of mining the tar sands. Nebraskans of all political stripes united in opposition to the foreign oil company TransCanada’s abusive practices and plans to cut across the state’s most valued ecosystems. State’s decision to reconsider its draft impact statementsto evaluate alternate routes means possible final approval, originally expected this year, will be delayed at the minimum by several months.

UPDATE

“When President Obama stands up to big oil, we stand with him,” Bold Nebraska leader Jane Kleeb responded.

UPDATE

At today’s press briefing, Jay Carney outlines President Obama’s criteria for determining whether the pipeline is in the national interest: “Public health, climate change, economic growth and jobs, all of these things have to be factored in.”