I wonder if the timing of this announcement has anything to do with the way Obama has handled the Keystone XL pipeline debate over the past few months. He has pretty much stated that the deciding factor will be weather or not Keystone XL will directly lead to increased oil sands production and the associated increase in carbon emissions. If the oil sands is getting increased pipeline capacity with or without Keystone, as this West/East project suggests, then it seems more likely that Obama will approve it.
|