White House: Report not final step on Keystone
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says a new environmental assessment from the State Department isn't the last step in deciding whether the Keystone XL pipeline can be built.
The report released Friday raised no major environmental objections to the controversial oil pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the U.S. The report dealt a major blow to environmentalists' hopes that Obama will block it.
White House spokesman Matt Lehrich says the report includes a range of estimates about the climate change impacts. He says Secretary of State John Kerry will now consider the report and a final decision won't be made until multiple agencies and the public have opportunities to weigh in.
He's repeating Obama's declaration that the project won't be approved if it's shown to significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.
