The State Department will recommend approval of the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, senior U.S. officials say, clearing the way for construction to start on the long-delayed project that has served as a flashpoint in the debate about climate change.
Two senior officials tell The Associated Press that Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon will make a recommendation that the pipeline serves U.S. national interests. The Trump administration had given the federal government until Monday to complete a review of the Keystone pipeline.
Former President Barack Obama rejected the pipeline in 2015 after a negative recommendation from then-Secretary of State John Kerry. The pipeline will still require a presidential permit, but the State Department’s recommendation has represented the last significant hold-up.
President Donald Trump has been a vocal supporter of the pipeline, saying it will create American jobs. Final approval of the permit will be formally announced later on Friday at the White House, say the officials, who weren’t authorized to comment publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.
When it rejected the pipeline, the Obama administration had argued it would undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was reached weeks later in Paris. Kerry’s recommendation against the permit came after lengthy State Department reviews, and it’s unclear what justification the agency will now use to explain the change of position.
The 1,700-mile pipeline, as envisioned, would carry oil from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to Houston-area refineries, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.
