Obama delays Keystone XL

The Obama administration—apparently in reaction to widespread public protest—has put the brakes on TransCanada’s controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Plans to construct the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would transport tar-sands oil from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, will likely be put on hold for up to 18 months as the government re-evaluates the environmental impact of the current proposed route, according to media sources. Protestors have decried the proposal to run the pipeline over Nebraska’s Ogallala aquifer, a major source of fresh water for millions in the Midwest. Environmentalists are also critical of the energy-intensive process used for extracting tar-sands oil. Supporters maintain the pipeline would provide desperately needed jobs for Americans and decrease reliance on oil from foreign sources.

“Each day the project is delayed will cost TransCanada $1 million,” TransCanada spokesman James Millar told the Huffington Post. “If delays extend beyond the end of 2011, these costs will increase.”