EPA's New Position: Keystone XL could bolster oil sands production, greenhouse gas emissions.
February 5, 2015The Environmental Protection Agency said in a new report that the Keystone XL pipeline could encourage Canadian oil sands development and raise greenhouse gas emissions, contradicting previous government studies.
In a February 2 letter to the State Department the EPA said “recent variability in oil prices” has made the agency reconsider its former position that the pipeline would not increase green gas emissions.
The EPA now contends that low oil prices could make the pipeline vital to Canadian oil sand producers as rail transportation costs rise.
A previous State Department report concluded that oil sand projects would continue to be developed with or without the pipeline.
The EPA now says that conclusion “was based in large part on projections of the global price of oil.”
“Given recent large declines in oil prices and the uncertainty of oil price projects, the additional low price scenario (in State’s analysis) should be given additional weight during decision making, due to the potential implications of lower oil prices on project impacts, especially greenhouse gas emissions,” EPA assistant administrator for enforcement Cynthia Giles said.
The American Petroleum Institute, a trade industry groups, said the evaluation is “just another attempt to prolong the KXL review.”
“The science behind building the Keystone XL pipeline has been settled five times over. The State Department has concluded the pipeline is safe to build, and it will not have a significant impact on the environment,” API executive vice president Louis Finkel said.
Calgary-based TransCanada, the pipeline’s operator, said that the Keystone XL would not increase overall greenhouse gas emissions.
“When we look at the types of oils that Keystone XL will displace — from Mexico, Venezuela and other international sources — the Canadian and American oils produce similar or often lower greenhouse gas emissions,” a TransCanada spokesman told Fuel Fix.
The $8 billion pipeline has been mired in regulatory red tape for the last six years.
Last year the State Department released a key assessment of the pipeline that concluded the project would have a limited environmental impact.
President Obama has vowed to veto any bills approving the pipeline.
The Keystone XL pipeline would stretch 1,179-mile from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska located just north of the Cushing oil hub.