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| Reactions to Keystone pipeline impact report Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:54 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Thursday issued its long awaited final environmental impact statement on the proposed Keystone pipeline, which would carry crude oil from Canada's tar sands region to refiners in the Gulf of Mexico. The following are quotes from lawmakers, environmental groups and others on the report and the road ahead for TransCanada Corp's, which was first proposed more than five years ago. ----------------------------- U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: "President Obama is out of excuses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada energy minister expects positive Keystone XL decision soon Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:54 PM PST Canada's Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on Friday he expects the final decision on the Keystone XL pipeline to be positive, and would like to see it happen in the first half of this year. Speaking after the U.S. State Department released a final environmental impact statement on the controversial pipeline, Oliver said U.S. President Barack Obama now had all the facts to be able to decide. Oliver described the environmental review, which said the Keystone XL pipeline would be unlikely to increase the pace of Canadian oil sands development, as a "positive step on the route to approval". Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Possible winners and losers from Keystone XL review Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:54 PM PST The U.S. State Department issued an environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline on Thursday that said the project was unlikely to increase the pace of Canadian oil sands development. The 1,179-mile (1,900-km) pipeline would move 830,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude from Hardisty, Alberta, across the U.S. border to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would connect with a previously approved line. Environmentalists and other critics have called on President Barack Obama to reject the plan, saying it could hasten climate change by promoting oil-harvesting methods in Alberta that produce high levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Below are details of which groups would benefit and which would be disappointed from the State Department's conclusions. Full Story | Top |
| TransCanada CEO 'very pleased' as Keystone XL edges forward Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:54 PM PST (Reuters) - Transcanada Corp's chief executive said on Friday he was "very pleased" with the release of a U.S. State Department review on Keystone XL, which played down the impact the 1,179-mile pipeline would have on climate change. "We are very pleased with the release and being able to move this next stage of the process," said Russ Girling on a conference call. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Prolonged Keystone XL decision to spill into U.S. election season Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:53 PM PST The Obama administration's tricky final decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline is several months away, guaranteeing that the project dividing many Democratic voters will be an issue in the midterm elections that could determine control of the U.S. Congress. The State Department's issuance on Friday of its last environmental review of TransCanada Corp's proposed pipeline puts in motion a few more steps that have to be completed before a final determination is made. It is not known whether the final decision on the pipeline, which would transport some 830,000 barrels per day from the Canadian oil sands and domestic oil fields to Nebraska, will come before or after the November 4 elections. While Republican voters mostly support Keystone, the project divides many pro-union Democrats who want construction jobs the pipeline would create, and those who believe the pipeline will increase emissions blamed for climate change Below are the next steps to come on the pipeline and the Congressional races it could influence: NEXT STEPS - National Interest Determination Now that the State Department has finalized the environmental review, eight federal agencies will have up to 90 days to comment on whether the Keystone XL is in the national interest. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Major findings of the U.S. Keystone XL environment study Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:53 PM PST The Obama administration's environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline issued on Friday said the project would not likely speed the development of Canada's oil sands, essentially discounting one the major concerns of the duct's opponents. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to make the final decision on TransCanada Corp's 830,000 barrels per day pipeline later this year after eight federal agencies weigh whether Keystone is in the country's national security interest. Below are major findings of the State Department's 11-volume final environmental review it issued on Friday. OIL SANDS DEVELOPMENT A single project like the Keystone XL pipeline will only speed up the pace of development of Alberta's oil sands under a very narrow condition, the report said. Full Story | Top |
| Keystone report raises pressure on Obama to approve pipeline Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:53 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pressure for President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline increased after a State Department report played down the impact it would have on climate change, irking environmentalists and delighting the project's proponents. But the White House signaled late on Friday that a decision on an application by TransCanada Corp to build the $5.4 billion project would be made "only after careful consideration" of the report, along with comments from the public and other government agencies. "The Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement includes a range of estimates of the project's climate impacts, and that information will now need to be closely evaluated by Secretary (of State John) Kerry and other relevant agency heads in the weeks ahead," White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said. Full Story | Top |
| EPA scrutiny could be lynchpin to Keystone review process Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:53 PM PST By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's critical assessment of the proposed northern leg of the Keystone pipeline could have outsized influence on the final decision of whether to approve the project, experts familiar with the process said. Friday's State Department report contained the EPA's evaluation that crude produced from Canada's oil sands, which the pipeline would carry, are 17 percent more greenhouse gas intensive than average oil used in the United States. The EPA also said oil sands imports would be 2-10 percent more greenhouse-gas intensive than imported oil from Mexico or Venezuela that would probably replace it. The Departments of Defense, Commerce, Commerce, Energy, Justice, Transportation and Homeland Security are also evaluating the State Department's environmental assessment of the Keystone proposal. Full Story | Top |
| China's January official PMI slips to six-month low Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:50 PM PST  China's factory growth eased to an expected six-month low in January, hurt by weaker local and foreign demand, a survey showed, a soft start for the year that heightens worries of an economic slowdown. The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged down to 50.5 in January from December's 51, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, in line with market expectations. The change reinforces concerns that China's economy is stuttering and could drag on financial markets on Monday as global investors, already nervous about capital flight in emerging markets, find another reason to sell riskier assets. Saturday's PMI showed China's factories saw fewer export orders and slacker growth in new orders last month. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. FAA downgrades India aviation rating; Air India, Jet hit Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:45 PM PST  By Devidutta Tripathy NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have downgraded India's aviation safety rating, citing a lack of safety oversight, meaning the country's carriers cannot increase flights to the world's biggest aviation market and face extra checks for existing ones. India said it expected to resolve by March all concerns raised by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, including appointing an adequate number of flight operation inspectors, and would ask the U.S. regulator to review its decision. "The FAA has determined that India at this time is not in compliance with the international standards for aviation safety oversight," the U.S. regulator said in extracts from a communication released by the Indian government on Friday. Jet Airways and state-run Air India , the only two carriers that fly from India to the United States, will be hit by the downgrade. Full Story | Top |
| California water allocation forecast hits record-low level Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:39 PM PST  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A worsening drought in California will likely force a first-ever complete cutoff this year in state-supplied water sold to 29 irrigation districts, public water agencies and municipalities up and down the state, officials said Friday. Although the state Water Resources Department typically ends up supplying more water than first projected for the year ahead, its forecast for a "zero allocation" in 2014 is unprecedented since the agency began delivering water in 1967. The announcement came a day after the agency said that water content in the snow pack of the Sierra Nevada mountain range - a key measure of surface water supplies - stood at just 12 percent of average for this time of year. Barring an unexpected turn-around in California's current dry spell, the state faces its worst-ever water supply outlook, the agency said. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters join final anti-government march before election Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:15 PM PST  By Alisa Tang BANGKOK (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters gathered in Bangkok's busy tourist area of Chinatown for the third and final day of marches in the capital denouncing Thailand's general election on Sunday amid fears of violence erupting during the vote. The government is pushing ahead with the election, despite protesters' threats to disrupt the vote and stop Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai Party from returning to power. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has called for a peaceful blockade of roads in the city, but in the same breath has vowed not to stop people voting. Full Story | Top |
| White House says Keystone decision to come only after careful review Friday, Jan 31, 2014 06:54 PM PST  The White House said late on Friday that a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline will come only after a careful review of a new environmental impact study from the State Department as well as other comments and information. "A decision on whether the project is in the national interest will be made only after careful consideration of the (State Department environment impact study) and other pertinent information, comments from the public, and views of other agency heads," said Matt Lehrich, a White House spokesman. Full Story | Top |
| Detroit files lawsuit seeking to void pension debt Friday, Jan 31, 2014 06:47 PM PST  Detroit on Friday filed a lawsuit in U.S. bankruptcy court seeking to invalidate $1.44 billion of debt sold to fund public worker pensions - a move that also could void the ill-fated interest-rate swaps contracts that were a factor leading Detroit into bankruptcy. The lawsuit contends the city and its retirement systems violated Michigan law when they set up "sham" service corporations and funding trusts to facilitate the debt sales in 2005 and 2006. Detroit in its lawsuit said the pension debt was "nothing more" than a borrowing by the city, and it violated borrowing limits imposed on Detroit by the state of Michigan. In the suit, Detroit asked bankruptcy judge Steven Rhodes to issue a judgment declaring the city is not obligated to continue making payments on the so-called pension certificates of participation (COPs). Full Story | Top |
| Canada strips former publisher Conrad Black of honors Friday, Jan 31, 2014 06:42 PM PST  Canada has canceled two prestigious honors for Conrad Black, who once ran a newspaper empire stretching from the Chicago Sun-Times to Britain's Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post but who ended up in U.S. prison for fraud. The government on Friday terminated his appointment as an officer of the Order of Canada, which recognizes a lifetime of high achievement and merit. It also removed him from the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, ostensibly a group of cabinet ministers and other prominent Canadians appointed to advise Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state, though for distinguished individuals outside of the cabinet it is mainly a mark of honor. He was found guilty in 2007 of scheming with business partner David Radler and other executives to siphon off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers as they unwound Hollinger International. Full Story | Top |
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