State Department Offers Initial Approval of Keystone XL Project

摘要

The US Department of State (State Department) has offered initial backing to TransCanada's plan to expand the Keystone pipeline system across the United States. In August 2011, the State Department released an environmental impact study suggesting a route for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that it determined held little risk of environmental impact. The 1,711-mile (2,750-kilometer) pipeline would carry tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada to terminals along the US Gulf of Mexico coast, and would be the longest oil pipeline outside of Russia and China. The support from the State Department is a critical hurdle for TransCanada. The project must also obtain a Presidential Permit from President Obama's Administration because it crosses a US-Canada border. Environmentalists are leaning heavily on the President not to approve the pipeline project.