Keystone pipeline moving forward ... in Canada's eyes
| MISSISSAUGA, Ontario
Canada聽remains confident Washington will ultimately approve the聽Keystone聽XL pipeline to the聽U.S. Gulf Coast, two prominent cabinet ministers said on Friday, adding that the latest U.S. delay is political and not based on environmental concerns.
In his first public remarks on the controversial project, the country's new energy minister,聽Greg Rickford, said he hoped the聽Obama administration聽will "depoliticize" its decision on聽Keystone聽XL and give it the green light.
"On the聽Keystone, we're still very hopeful ... that this will go ahead sooner rather than later, and it will simply add to the economic benefits of pipeline transmission of energy products," Rickford told reporters after a speech in the聽Toronto聽suburb of聽Mississauga聽on Friday.
"Obviously we hope sooner rather than later that this is depoliticized, if you will, and that the communities along the pipeline, which include聽Canada聽and the聽United States, can reap the tremendous economic benefits of聽Keystone," he said.
Rickford was reacting to Washington's move last week to further delay a decision on whether to approve TransCanada Corp's $5.4 billion聽Keystone聽XL project, which would transport crude from the聽Alberta聽oil sands and聽northern U.S.聽states to the聽U.S. Gulf Coast.
No U.S. decision on the proposed pipeline is now likely until after the midterm elections in November.
By linking to refiners in the聽Gulf Coast, the 1,200-mile (1,900-km) pipeline would provide a boost to the oil sands of the western province of聽Alberta, where heavy oil is abundant but requires the burning vast amounts of fossil fuels to extract.
The project has galvanized the environmental movement, which says consuming carbon fuel to extract oil sands crude will worsen climate change.
Environmentalists opposed to聽Keystone聽are part of U.S. President聽Barack Obama's liberal-leaning base and approval of the project now might have resulted in Obama's聽Democrats聽losing votes in the Nov. 4 congressional elections.
The oil industry argues projects such as聽Keystone聽can reduce U.S. reliance on聽Middle East聽oil, while allowing the United States to partner with one of its closest allies,聽Canada.
The State Department said last week the delay was to extend the period for government agencies to comment on the project, citing a need to wait until the聽Nebraska Supreme Court聽settles a dispute over what path the pipeline should take.
Rickford was appointed to his new portfolio last month and his main mandate is to win support forKeystone聽as well as other pipelines within聽Canada.
Finance Minister Joe Oliver, who was Rickford predecessor as energy minister and who aggressively lobbied in the United States for聽Keystone聽XL, told an audience in the Canadian oil industry capital ofCalgary聽on Friday that the government "will never give up on聽Alberta".
"We will continue to advocate for聽Keystone聽until it is approved, as we will advocate for other environmentally responsible projects in the national interest," he said.
Oliver slammed what he called "powerful and well-funded Americans" who have opposed oil sands development and the pipeline, without naming anyone in particular.
California聽billionaire聽Tom Steyer, a donor to the聽Democrats, is spending tens of millions of dollars to boost environmentally friendly U.S. candidates and has personally asked the president to reject theKeystone聽pipeline.
"On the merits, they have picked the wrong target," Oliver said, arguing that U.S. coal-fired electricity emits more greenhouse gases than the oil sands.
"The聽Keystone聽decision was political. Everything is in place for a positive national interest determination but politics intervened," he said.
