Posted: March 4, 2013 A report released by the State Department
Friday says the pipeline won't have much of an impact on the
development of oil from Alberta. But activists who oppose the
project aren't giving in. Environmentalists have a hope. If they
can block the Keystone XL pipeline, they can keep Canada from
developing more of its dirty tar sands oil. It takes a lot of
energy to get it out of the ground and turn it into gasoline, so
it has a bigger greenhouse gas footprint than conventional oil.
But the State Department report, which was released Friday, says
Keystone won't have much of an impact on the development of that
oil from Alberta. Industry analyst Kevin Book of ClearView
Energy Partners says the report's finding will make it easier
for the Obama administration to say the project wouldn't affect
climate change. "The State Department said, 'We agree with
industry.' They're saying this oil would have gone to market
anyway," Book says. "The facts are the oil in the ground in
Canada isn't going to st