Keystone setback shadows emissions talk
TOLUCA, Mexico — Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama have agreed to set new greenhouse gas emission standards for heavy-duty trucks, part of a larger effort to set broader industry standards.
Setting those standards, especially those for the oil and gas industry, could be crucial for the future of the Keystone XL pipeline, which hung over the leaders’ announcement on environmental standards.
“This will be a joint effort,” Obama said as Harper looked on. “And Keystone will proceed on the path that’s already been set for it.”
But that path is anything but clear after Wednesday, as the project hit a legal setback in a Nebraska court that cast a shadow over Harper’s meeting with Obama at a North American leaders’ summit in Mexico.
On Wednesday, a Nebraska district court invalidated a state law that the government could have potentially used to force landowners to allow construction of the pipeline on their properties. The ruling means that the company behind the project, TransCanada, no longer has an approved route for the $5.4-billion project, and gives opponents of the pipeline a win.
The court ruled that the law — which handed Nebraska’s governor the authority to proceed with the project on private land — is unconstitutional. Unless a higher court reinstates the law, TransCanada might need the permission of all landowners on the route. So far, the company has settled with landowners in five of six states, and with more than two-thirds of those in Nebraska.
“We are disappointed and disagree with the decision,” TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard said in a statement. “We will now analyze the judgment and decide what next steps may be taken. TransCanada continues to believe strongly in Keystone XL and the benefits it would provide to Americans — thousands of jobs and a secure supply of crude oil from a trusted neighbour in Canada.”
The decision was a win for critics of the project, as well as landowners opposed to the path of the pipeline.
Obama didn’t address the decision when he was questioned about the pipeline project and its future after years of review, nor how it would affect the federal review underway. News of the decision came just before Harper was set to meet with Obama one-on-one on the sideline of the summit.
Harper had made Keystone — and lobbying for its approval — part of his agenda for the so-called Three Amigos summit. Harper symbolically met with business people at TransCanada’s offices in Mexico City earlier Wednesday, and referenced the company by name during a speech at the summit.
But nothing has changed on the pipeline front, said Obama, who is awaiting reports from agencies and his secretary of state, John Kerry, about whether the pipeline is in the U.S. public interest.
“There is a process that has been going on (that) I know has been extensive. At times, I’m sure, Stephen feels a little too laborious,” Obama said.
It is also wrapped up in domestic politics as Obama’s Democrats look to key midterm elections in November, in which the pipeline could be a wedge issue.
“There are always going to be parochial interests in each of our countries. That’s appropriate and that would express itself politically and we have to be responsive to our constituents,” Obama said during prepared remarks at the summit. “If in fact we are going to go and strengthen the ties between our three countries, then you can’t just leave it to politicians.”