PRESIDENT OBAMA REJECTS KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE IN VICTORY FOR CLIMATE ACTIVISTS

USPA NEWS - Over the past seven years, the Keystone project was opposed by a broad coalition, including environmentalists, indigenous activists, farmers and ranchers, concerned about both climate change and protecting their land....

Over the past seven years, the Keystone project was opposed by a broad coalition, including environmentalists, indigenous activists, farmers and ranchers, concerned about both climate change and protecting their land. In a major victory for environmentalists, President Obama has rejected TransCanada´s application to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Barack Obama ended seven years of high-wire political drama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, saying the decision reflected America´s determination to be a global leader in the fight against climate change... The move, less than four weeks before more than 190 countries gather in Paris to try to reach a global deal to reduce carbon pollution, reinforces Obama´s commitment to making climate change the domestic and international legacy of his second term in the White House ““ even in the face of Republican hostility. (The Guardian)

The once-obscure Keystone project became a political symbol amid broader clashes over energy, climate change and the economy. The rejection of a single oil infrastructure project will have little impact on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, but the pipeline plan gained an outsize profile after environmental activists spent four years marching and rallying against it in front of the White House and across the country. (NYtimes)

Both sides of the debate saw the Keystone rejection as a major symbolic step, a sign that the president was willing to risk angering a bipartisan majority of lawmakers in the pursuit of his environmental agenda. And both supporters and critics of Mr. Obama saw the surprisingly powerful influence of environmental activists in the decision. (NYtimes).

Several former administration officials said Friday that Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry had decided to block the project two years ago but waited for the legally required internal review, a revised permit application and, finally, a politically opportune time to announce the decision.... What started as a routine permit application for a project to move 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day to Gulf Coast refineries became a political litmus test for Obama, who said Friday that the pipeline had taken on 'an overinflated role in our political discourse'(Washington Post)

Obama's move comes as the White House continues to promote its environmental agenda and efforts to fight climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency this summer put forward new regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. And next month, Obama will attend the Paris climate talks run by the United Nations, he announced Friday. The White House is hoping to broker an international agreement committing every country to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and enact other policies to curb global warming. (CNN)

The 1,179-mile pipeline would transport oil from heavy tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast. A 875-mile northern portion had been projected to cost an estimated $8 billion to build and has faced serious contention from the likes of environmentalists, Democrats and landowners in its path... In February, President Obama vetoed a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, saying that the proposal attempted 'to circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether or not building and operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest.' (nbcnews)

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