President Rejects Pipeline, but Controversy Continues
On January 18, President Obama announced the Administration’s decision to deny the application for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. (For background, see the December 2011 Congressional Digest titled “Keystone Pipeline.”) Republicans in Congress had forced the President’s hand on the issue last year by attaching a provision to the shot-term payroll tax cut extension legislation that required the Administration to make a decision on the pipeline within two months. In a statement released by the White House, the President said: “This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline…
