President Obama spoke Friday to students at Benedict College.
At a town hall meeting at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, Friday, President Obama
indicated once again that he may not approve a permit for building the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. The section would run from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska. The southern leg of the pipeline, which runs from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas, is already operational:
"The reason that a lot of environmentalists are concerned about it is the way that you get the oil out in Canada is an extraordinarily dirty way of extracting oil. And, obviously, there are always risks in piping a lot of oil through Nebraska farmland and other parts of the country," Obama added. [...]
"I haven't made a final determination on it, but what I've said is that not going to authorize a pipeline that goes to benefit largely a foreign company, if it can't be shown that it is safe and if it can't be shown overall that it would not contribute to climate change."
Obama invoked the decision when explaining the need to combat climate change and emphasized that young people should care about the future of the climate.
"The pattern overall is that the climate is getting warmer. That's undeniable," Obama said. "This will affect you more than old people like me."
Since 1968 the State Department has been delegated to evaluate and approve or disapprove pipelines (tunnels, bridges and conveyor belts) that cross international boundaries. The judgment is made on the basis of whether a project is in the "national interest." Keystone XL, a 36-inch pipeline that would connect the Alberta tar sands to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast, is in the final stages of that evaluation. Congressional Republicans and some Democrats say the decision has been delayed too long.
Last month, they passed a bill to go around the State Department process and approve construction of the project. But Obama immediately vetoed it. This week, the Senate failed to get the 66 votes it needed to override that veto. The vote was 62-37. Eight Democrats joined the Republicans in the attempt.