Obama Likely to Make Keystone Decision by End of Term

The Obama administration intends to make a decision on TransCanada’s controversial Keystone XL pipeline, even though the company has asked the State Department to pause a review of its permit application.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that Obama plans to determine the fate of the pipeline permit by the end of his term.

“The president has said that before, yes — that he would like to have this determination be completed before he leaves office,” Earnest said.  He added that there is no reason to stop evaluating the merits of the pipeline proposal over the next year during the election season.

“In fact, there are a lot of things the president wants to do, and there are a lot of things that could be derailed by politics over the course of the next year, but that’s not an excuse to do nothing,” Earnest said, referring to the Keystone XL review process. “It’s, frankly, a reason to try to focus on the merits and to rise above politics, and focus on the best interest of the country.”

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