Public’s pipeline opinions flood in

Keystone pleas pour in at end

WASHINGTON - Proponents and critics of the Keystone XL pipeline made a final flurry of pleas to sway the government on its construction, which has become a flash point in a debate over energy development versus climate change.

The public had until the end of the day Friday to be part of the official review of whether Keystone is in the national interest. It is now up to Secretary of State John Kerry to weigh in and President Barack Obama to decide whether to approve or scrap the long delayed $5.4 billion plan by TransCanada Corp. to bring crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries.

Most of the more than 15,000 comments submitted through Thursday reiterate arguments made during five years of review. Foes said the project would worsen climate change by promoting development of Alberta’s oil sands. Proponents said Keystone would help the economy and boost U.S. energy security.

“Keystone XL will result in no significant environmental, climate or cultural impacts, but it will create jobs immediately and significantly contribute to the U.S. economy,” the American Petroleum Institute, a Washington-based lobbying group, and 11 other industry organizations wrote.

Approving the pipeline would “lock us in to dependence on this dirty fuel for decades,” according to a letter Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, asked visitors to its website to sign.

If new arguments were absent in the postings, the comments showed that Keystone generates significant interest, underscoring political risks for Obama eight months before midterm elections to determine control of the Congress.

Industry and environmental groups said they were planning to forward letters bearing hundreds of thousands of signatures in support of their views.

“It’s hard to see what a winning strategy might be” for the president, said Barry Rabe, a University of Michigan public policy professor who specializes in environmental policy.

If Obama approves Keystone, Rabe said, he risks upsetting his base of environmental supporters and major donors such as Tom Steyer, a billionaire former hedge fund manager who has waged a campaign against the pipeline for more than a year.

Labor groups and lawmakers from oil states - including Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who faces a tough re-election race this year - support the project.

“The Obama administration has all the evidence it needs to approve” Keystone, Cindy Schild, downstream operations senior manager at the American Petroleum Institute, said Thursday during a conference call with reporters.

The American Petroleum Institute, whose members include Exxon Mobil Corp., said it had gathered more than 500,000 signatures in support of the project.

A group of pipeline foes, including Academy Award winning actor Jared Leto, sent Kerry a letter Thursday that urged him to stand against Keystone as he did against the Vietnam War as a young veteran.

Some of the same people held a conference call with two of Kerry’s deputies at the State Department to reiterate the case against the project, said Betsy Taylor, who runs a consulting group in Takoma Park, Md., on climate strategies. Leto had a conflict and wasn’t on the call, she said.

The comments posted on regulations.gov are part of a State Department review that weighs the environmental, economic and diplomatic impact of Keystone on the U.S.

The department is overseeing the review because Keystone crosses an international border.

Eight federal agencies have an additional 60 days to advise the State Department.

Kerry, who has a made combating the risks of climate change a priority as secretary, told reporters Feb. 26 that he was starting a “very intensive evaluation” of Keystone.

Obama told state governors last week that he expects to decide sometime in the next couple of months.

“I urge you to reject calls for further delay, and move forward with approving the Keystone XL pipeline,” Gerald Pargac wrote in comments submitted for the State Department review.

“Approving Keystone XL is a pivotal moment,” wrote Angie Bashus. “It seals the coffin for global warming and many other environmental issues.”

Business, Pages 29 on 03/08/2014

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