From BOLD Nebraska:
Recognizing that President Obama’s rejection of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is inevitable, TransCanada requested tonight that the State Department pause its review of the pipeline, citing the uncertain status of the route in Nebraska.
Given that the route in Nebraska has long been uncertain, it is obvious that this is simply a desperate attempt to run out the clock on Obama’s presidency in hopes that a Republican might take the White House in 2016.
It is important to note that neither the State Department nor President Obama is in any way obligated to grant TransCanada the pause they are requesting. President Obama has long had all the information he needs to reject the pipeline on the grounds that it would unleash reckless expansion of the dirtiest fuel source on the planet and be a disaster for the climate.
Moreover, communities along the pipeline route have spent the last six years of their lives with the threat of a tar sands pipeline running through their land hanging over their heads. It is long past time for President Obama to kill this project once and for all, and rather than put them through two more years of uncertainty, he should do so immediately.