As enviros open closing arguments, 100 scientists and economists urge Obama to nix pipeline

摘要

More than 100 scientists and economists today released a public plea that President Obamarnreject Keystone XL - including two academics whose previous comments about the emissionsrnimpact of the Canada-to-U.S. oil sands crude project have provided fodder for pipelinernbackers.rnThe open letter to Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry comes as the $5.4 billion projectrnnears what could prove a pivotal crossroads - given that Kerry's department is entering thernfinal month of a 90-day review period dedicating to weighing its national interest value. Or itrncould just be approaching another waystation on its previous path of delay, given that thernWhite House has no final deadline for acting on a recommendation it may receive from FoggyrnBottom on the merits of the 730,000-plus barrels of heavy crude that KXL would ship to the GulfrnCoast.