WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is expected to announce the rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline Wednesday.
Sources within the State Department told a range of media outlets that TransCanada’s permit for the 1700-mile pipeline was to be rejected.
“We’re expecting the pipeline to be rejected,” Reuters quoted one source.
Politico, a website dedicated to U.S. politics, said a formal announcement was expected from Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns at 3pm Wednesday afternoon.
Approval for the pipeline became a source of tension in Congress last year with Republicans arguing that Keystone is important for future U.S. energy supplies.
Environmentalists argued that the project was environmentally damaging—that producing carbon emissions from Canadian oil sands production would impact America’s climate change goals.
President Obama announced in November that the State Department was delaying its decision, stating that a number of concerns had been raised by the public including affects on “the health and safety of the American people as well as the environment.”
Republicans, concerned a decision could be delayed till after the 2012 elections, made an agreement to extend the pay-roll tax at the end of last year, contingent on a 60-day deadline for a decision on the pipeline.
A decision date was set for Feb. 21.
