State Dept Warns Congress Not To Force Its Hand On Keystone Pipeline

"The State Department has hit the brakes on a congressional plan to revive the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project, signaling Monday that it would not be willing to authorize the project under an 'arbitrary deadline.'"

"'Should Congress impose an arbitrary deadline for the permit decision, its actions would not only compromise the process, it would prohibit the Department from acting consistently with National Environmental Policy Act requirements,' the State Department said in a statement. 'In the absence of properly completing the process, the Department would be unable to make a determination to issue a permit for this project.'

"The Keystone Xl Pipeline would have delivered tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada to refineries in the American Midwest."

Joshua Hersh reports for the Huffington Post December 12, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Congress Cannot Accelerate Keystone Decision: State Department" (Reuters)

"Obama and Congressional Republicans Move Toward Showdown Over Oil Pipeline and Tax Breaks" (Washington Post)

"Republican Keystone, tax cut bill expect to pass on Tuesday" (Reuters)

Source: Huffington Post, 12/13/2011