The State Department releases its final environmental report on the Keystone Pipeline today. Justin Sink of The Hill reports:
Sources who have been briefed on the draft of the document told Bloomberg News that environmental groups who opposed construction of the pipeline would likely be disappointed with the results. While the report will include some modest changes that respond to concerns raised by environmentalists, it is still expected to find that the pipeline would have only a minimal impact on carbon emissions.
And, of course:
… last summer, President Obama said the construction would be acceptable “only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”
The study that is to be released today will, itself, be studied. Keystone surely has been studied more than anything since the Elgin Marbles. The studies have been going on since 2008 when the project was first proposed. There has never been a time, since the inauguration of President Obama, when the project was not being studied. If there is anything left to be learned about the Keystone Pipeline, it should perhaps be left to future archeologists when they sift through the ruins of this civilization.
Meanwhile, as Sink notes, todays’ report:
“… sets up an accelerated timeline that could have the Obama Administration making a final decision on construction by the early summer.”
Time, then, for a few more months of study.
