Keystone XL battle resumes

TransCanada, the Canadian oil company behind the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, announced last week it would begin construction of a shorter leg of the pipeline from Oklahoma to the Texas Gulf Coast.

Citing insufficient environmental review, President Obama rejected in January an international permit that would have allowed the Keystone XL to run tar-sands oil from Alberta to Texas via Nebraska, home to the critical Ogallala aquifer, according to the Los Angeles Times. The new southern leg of the pipeline would run from Cushing, Okla., which already produces crude oil, to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The company expects to complete the southern segment by late 2013 at a cost of $2.3 billion, pending approval on a state level. TransCanada will seek a new international permit for the section of pipeline from Canada to Cushing.

“TransCanada is hell-bent on bringing tar sands, the world’s dirtiest oil, through America to reach foreign markets,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune.