Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline
Weighing Energy Security Against Environmental Risk
In September 2008, TransCanada Corporation filed an application with the U.S. State Department for a permit to build a $7 billion pipeline that would connect the oil sands region of Alberta to oil refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline would be the longest outside of Russia and China and would carry more than half a million barrels of oil a day. A presidential approval is needed for the project because it crosses an international border. In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the State Department conducted a review of the proposed project and released…
