National Interest Determination On Keystone XL Upcoming

摘要

The U.S. State Department held hearings in Montana, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas late last month as the last step before deciding whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. That is the controversial 1,661-mile tar sands pipeline TransCanada wants to build in stages from Hardisty, Alberta to Houston and Port Arthur in the Gulf Coast region. Environmentalists oppose it because of concerns about the way tar sands are produced, and their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and potential groundwater contamination in the Ogallalla aquifer. But the State Department's final environmental impact statement (EIS) issued Aug. 26 said the proposed route would have "limited environmental impacts" and was better than any of the 14 alternative routes the department looked at.