Obama Rejects Construction Of Keystone XL Oil Pipeline

(RTTNews) - After a seven-year review process, President Barack Obama announced Friday his administration has rejected the permit for construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

The pipeline, proposed by energy giant TransCanada Corp. (TRP), was projected to ship up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada and Montana to Cushing, Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast area.

In remarks from the White House, Obama cited several reasons behind the rejection, seeking to preemptively blunt likely criticism of the decision.

Supporters claim the project would be a significant engine for job creation, but Obama started off by saying the pipeline would have no significant economic impact.

"The pipeline would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to our economy," Obama said. "So if Congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it."

He added, "If they want to do it, what we should be doing is passing a bipartisan infrastructure plan that, in the short term, could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year as the pipeline would, and in the long run would benefit our economy and our workers for decades to come."

The pipeline was estimated to support several thousand jobs during a two-year construction period but only about 50 permanent jobs.

The president pointed to the strong employment data released earlier in the day and claimed the pipeline would not have made a serious impact on those numbers.

A report from the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 271,000 jobs in October, pushing the unemployment rate down to a seven-year low of 5.0 percent.

Obama also dismissed the arguments that the pipeline would lead to lower gas prices for American consumers and increase the nation's energy security.

The president pointed to efforts to reduce the nation's reliance on "dirty" fossil fuels from unstable parts of the world and suggested construction of the pipeline would undercut U.S. leadership on climate change

"Today, we're continuing to lead by example," Obama said. "Because ultimately, if we're going to prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we're going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them and release more dangerous pollution into the sky."

The announcement comes a day after the State Department rejected TransCanada's request to delay the government's review of the proposed pipeline.

The request from TransCanada was seen as an effort to push the final decision on the pipeline into the next presidential administration.

While Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is opposed the pipeline, all of the Republican candidates have expressed support for the project.

Obama's decision is not likely to be the final chapter of the pipeline story, however, as GOP lawmakers have already sought to use legislation to go around the president and authorize construction.

In a statement responding the news, new House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., described the decision as "sickening" but not surprising.

"By rejecting this pipeline, the president is rejecting tens of thousands of good-paying jobs," Ryan said. "He is rejecting our largest trading partner and energy supplier. He is rejecting the will of the American people and a bipartisan majority of the Congress."

"If the president wants to spend the rest of his time in office catering to special interests, that's his choice to make," he added. "But it's just wrong. In the House, we are going to pursue a bold agenda of growth and opportunity for all."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., was also highly critical of Obama's decision and stressed Republicans have no intention of giving up on construction of the pipeline.