Obama approves oil pipeline from Alberta tar sands to Texas coast
Campaigners disappointed as White House says 1,700-mile pipeline will not cause significant environmental damage
The
Obama administration gave an important approval yesterday to a controversial pipeline that will pump
oil from the tar sands of Alberta to the Texas coast.
In a blow to campaigners, who have spent the last week at a sit-in at the White House, the State Department said the proposed 1,700-mile pipeline would not cause significant damage to the environment.
The State Department in its report said the project – which would pipe more than 700,000 barrels a day of tar sands crude to Texas refineries – would not increase greenhouse gas emissions. It also downplayed the risks of an accident from piping highly corrosive tar sands crude across prime American farmland.