Keystone XL -- Kicking the Can Down The Road -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

The State Department will soon decide whether to seek a rerouting of the Keystone XL pipeline away from a environmentally sensitive portion of Nebraska, a move that could delay a final decision on the project until after the 2012 election, according to government officials.

The State Department has stepped up scrutiny of a possible alternative route, the officials said, in the wake of an outcry by Nebraskans, including lawmakers, who say the pipeline poses environmental risks to the state.
TransCanada Corp. is seeking to build the oil pipeline, which would run from Alberta, Canada, to Texas, with a portion passing through the Nebraska Sand Hills area and an aquifer that supplies water to several states.

A State Department decision to consider an alternative route would trigger a review of the new portion's environmental impact. Such a review could take more than a year, likely delaying an ultimate decision on whether to approve or deny TransCanada's application until after the 2012 election. The State Department had been trying to reach a decision by year's end but said recently that deadline could slip.

My hunch turned out correct: the State Department will look at re-routing the Keystone XL pipeline. The president won't have to get involved. TransCanada has said that re-routing would require three-to-five more years of environmental impact studies, permits, etc., and would be the same as killing the project. So we will see.

I'm waiting for TransCanada's announcement to turn the project 90 degrees to the west. China needs the oil.