From The Los Angeles Times:
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued a sharply critical assessment of the State Department’s recent environmental impact review of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, certain to complicate efforts to win approval for the $7-billion project.
In a letter to top State Department officials overseeing the permit process for the pipeline, the EPA lays out detailed objections regarding greenhouse gas emissions related to the project, pipeline safety and alternative routes. Based on its analysis, the EPA said it had “Environmental Objections” to the State Department’s environmental assessment due to “insufficient information. ”
A State Department spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. The State Department assessment concluded that Keystone XL would have a minimal impact on the environment. But the EPA analysis appears to challenge that conclusion.
http://www.latimes.com/...
"Insufficient information" - yowch. That ought to leave a mark.
I remember being saddened by the State Department's recent report on the pipeline, thinking it amounted to a green light from the Obama Administration. But this criticism from the EPA would seem to indicate the situation is more complicated than that.
Three cheers for the EPA!