Transcanada to reapply for Keystone Tar Sands pipeline; Santorum & Romney criticize Obama, promise speedy passage.

“For years, the knock on the President Obama was that he backed down too easily in the face of opposition. Not here. When Republicans in Congress forced the issue again by passing a 60-day time limit on the President’s final decision, he stood strong and denied the permit. And that was despite the most explicit threats from Big Oil: that they would exact ‘huge political consequences’ if he did the right thing on Keystone. Make no mistake—this is a brave decision.” ~ Bill McKibben of 350.org

“President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline is as shocking as it is revealing” ~ Romney.

“This is just, again, pandering to radical environmentalists who don’t want energy production, who don’t want us to burn more carbon.” ~ Santorum

“While we are disappointed, TransCanada remains fully committed to the construction of Keystone XL. Plans are already under way on a number of fronts to largely maintain the construction schedule of the project. We will reapply for a presidential permit and expect a new application would be processed in an expedited manner to allow for an in-service date of late 2014.” ~ Russ K. Girling, CEO

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Want to see a scary, dangerous, Earth-trashing process drastically slowed?  Guess what, you just did!

Today President Obama has, big sigh of relief, rejected the proposed permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. He’s already getting hell for it.

The action indicates that our leaders believe, at least for now, the pipeline is not in the best interest of our country – an opinion long held by environmental groups and concerned citizens.  Many of you were part of petitions pushing for this victory, so take a moment to reflect on the joy of effort sustained by your purest beliefs for our Earth.

The recommendation to reject the permit came today from the Sate Department, rising from concern that the project and planning faced insufficient timing restrictions for proper evaluation.  The pipeline was attached to a hot piece of legislation passed on December 23, 2011, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 (“the Act”). The Act provided 60 days for the President to determine whether the Keystone XL pipeline was a good bet for Americans.  Today President Obama concluded that time frame was inadequate.

“Earlier today, I received the Secretary of State’s recommendation on the pending application for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline,” said President Obama. “As the State Department made clear last month, the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment.  As a result, the Secretary of State has recommended that the application be denied. And after reviewing the State Department’s report, I agree.”

While this action may not permanently stop the project from moving forward, it does create a delay that will allow for more research contemplation and, hopefully, a healthy outcome for the Earth. 

It will also offer opportunity for people like you to reach out to your legislators to find a total abandonment of the Keystone XL permit. 

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To read the official announcement from the U.S. Department of State, click here.