Arkansans Join Coalition to Back Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
Five Democrats, including Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), joined Republicans at a Capitol news conference in February to urge President Obama to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline following a State Department report that raised no major environmental objections. The $7 billion pipeline would carry 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil from Canada to Texas oil refineries.
The State Department delivered its final environmental assessment saying the plan would not have much impact on global greenhouse gas emissions. The State Department is now accepting public comment on the statement for 90 days. Pryor and the other lawmakers want President Obama to approve the plan soon after.
Congress is unlikely to take any legislative action during the public comment period but several options are on the table for proponents should the White House fail to act swiftly Ð including imposing a deadline on the president to act. A similar effort led Obama to reject the plan in January 2012, saying he had not been given sufficient time to study the proposal.
The 485-mile southern half of the pipeline, which did not need State Department approval, is already open. Meanwhile, steel pipe for northern sections is being stored at Welspun Tubular in Little Rock, Ark.
