Keystone developer says it may try again

TransCanada pledged Friday to seek another permit for its Keystone XL pipeline after the Obama administration rejected the project. 

Saying “misplaced symbolism was chosen over merit and science,” TransCanada said it would seek other options for getting the 1,200 mile pipeline built, including “filing a new application for a presidential permit.”

{mosads}The company also questioned whether Obama’s rejection of the project aligns with the State Department’s review, which it said concluded the pipeline would emit fewer greenhouse gases than other oil transportation methods.  

“Today’s decision deals a damaging blow to jobs, the economy and the environment on both sides of the border,” company president and CEO Russ Girling said in a statement. 

“Today’s decision cannot be reconciled with the conclusions of the State Department’s comprehensive seven-year review of the project.”

Keystone needed presidential approval because it crosses the U.S.-Canadian border. The State Department rejected this week a TransCanada request to pause the review of the project, a move that could have allowed a Republican president to take office in 2017 and decide on the issue instead of Obama.

The president had long said he would consider the project’s affect on the environment before deciding on it, and in denying the pipeline Friday, he and Secretary of State John Kerry questioned its net benefit to the American economy and the climate. 

“The pipeline would not make a meaningful, long-term contribution to our economy,” Obama said.

But Girling said the project would have been a jobs engine in the United States and said its denial “impacts citizens across our nation at a time when jobs, economic stimulus and competitiveness are critical for the country.”

The company, he said, “is reviewing the decision and its rationale. We believe [Keystone XL] is in the best interest of the United States and Canada.”