WASHINGTON (March 24, 2017) – The R Street Institute welcomed today’s decision by the U.S. State Department to approve developer TransCanada’s permit to build the $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline.

“Keystone XL may be a banner issue of keep-it-in-the-ground environmental activists, but its surrounding controversy has been wildly overblown. Keystone XL will improve the energy and trade security of North America with safe, sophisticated technology,” said Catrina Rorke, R Street energy policy director.

The proposed 1,200-mile pipeline would allow crude oil from Canada’s oil-sands region to be transported to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The Obama administration had earlier moved to block the Keystone permit 16 months ago.

“The drawn-out nature of the Keystone XL approval process is a classic example of regulatory uncertainty in action,” said Josiah Neeley, R Street’s Southwest Region director. “What should have been a straightforward regulatory decision was turned into a half-decade long political drama. The administration’s actions signal a much-needed return to regulatory normalcy.”

R Street is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization whose mission is to promote free markets and limited, effective government. It has headquarters in Washington, D.C. and five regional offices across the country. Its website is www.rstreet.org.


Image by DN Penner

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