Several Democrats attack State Dept. pipeline finding

Capitol Hill opponents of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline are attacking the State Department’s finding that the proposed project will cause minimal environmental harm if managed properly.

The State Department’s conclusion in an environmental analysis released Friday is a crucial step toward final federal approval of the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would bring crude from Alberta, Canada’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.

{mosads}But the finding isn’t sitting well with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who called the analysis flawed, alleging the State Department failed to “adequately assess the real environmental impact.” The pipeline would run through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and other states.

“Natural resources like the Ogallala Aquifer which Keystone XL would run through are invaluable and we should not put a dangerous, dirty tar sands pipeline through the heart of it,” Cohen said Friday afternoon in a news release.

The administration’s step closer to approval of the pipeline also drew attacks from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

“Everyone who understands global warming understands that using tar sands oil means much more than the limited environmental impacts the State Department outlined,” Sanders said in a news release. Vermont’s other senator, Democrat Patrick Leahy, also is upset with the department’s finding.

The Obama administration plans to make a final decision on the pipeline by the end of the year.

The State Department on Friday sought to emphasize that the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) does not mean the die is cast to approve the $7 billion project that TransCanada Corp. is seeking to build.

“It should not be seen as a lean in any direction either for or against this pipeline,” Kerri-Ann Jones, an assistant secretary at the State Department, told reporters Friday.

But the study nonetheless drew praise from advocates of the project, including Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.

“The EIS is a key step in the United States’s approval process for the Keystone XL Project,” he said in a news release Friday.

“The Government of Canada will continue to cooperate with the United States to ensure reliable and secure fuel supply between our two countries and is firmly committed to the development of the oil sands in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.”

Republican backers of the project are now urging the Obama administration to provide final approval.

“Time to move forward for jobs and energy security,” Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a tweet Saturday. 

Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) called for final approval Friday, warning that the United States must act quickly because of a separate proposal to build a pipeline from the oil sands to ports on Canada’s west coast.

But major environmental groups have united in opposition to the project and say approval could discourage mobilization of President Obama’s environmental base in the 2012 election. Some activists are casting the decision as a referendum on Obama’s commitment to fighting global warming.

Environmentalists led by 350.org founder Bill McKibben will continue demonstrations and civil disobedience Monday near the White House. Hundreds of activists, including McKibben, have been arrested in the demonstrations that began Aug. 20.

This post was updated at 3:15 p.m. on Aug. 28.