Alberta to introduce ‘modern’ coal policy, including ban on new open-pit projects
The new policy will not affect those qualified as "advanced coal projects" such as the controversial Grassy Mountain mine.
The Keystone XL pipeline project will continue to languish in regulatory limbo with the US administration announcing another delay in the controversial approval process on Friday.
The Canadian government had asked for an immediate decision on the $5 billion pipeline, so that construction could begin this summer, but 8 federal agencies said more time is needed to review the project which has been complicated by a court dispute in Nebraska.
“Agencies need additional time based on the uncertainty created by the on-going litigation in the Nebraska Supreme Court which could ultimately affect the pipeline route in that state,” according to the announcement from the State Department.
The legal action is only expected to run its course by the end of this year at the earliest.
The proposed project would transport crude from the Canadian oil sands in Alberta to refineries on the US Gulf Coast and should counteract some of the pricing pressures bitumen producers are under.
Supporters have said it would be a boon for job creation and domestic energy production, but opponents have warned that oil extraction from the tar sands —among the most carbon-intensive methods of energy production— would likely increase should the project be approved.
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Shellback
Note to our Canadian friends – Please don’t mistake our President and his actions, as those of a rational player. He is not, He is a purely political character and has no interest in supporting the strategic needs of the USA or our allies and friends. When he obstructs a clearly legal action like the Keystone Pipeline there is no legal or rational reason. The reason lies elsewhere – he is throwing a bone to his political base – the radical left-wing environmentalists who are rabidly anti-petroleum. They feel that trucks and ships can be powered by wind and solar. Our political leaders here in the U.S. are feckless fools and are doing real long term damage to our country, our interests and our relationships throughout the world.