U.S. Delays Decision on Pipeline Until After Election (New York Times)
By JOHN M. BRODER and DAN FROSCH
The White House on Thursday delayed a decision on the contested $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline for 12 to 18 months while it studies an alternate route.
The move is the latest in a series of administration decisions pushing back thorny environmental matters beyond next November’s presidential election to try to avoid the heat from opposing interests —business lobbies or environmental and health advocates — and to find a political middle ground. Mr. Obama delayed a review of the nation’s smog standard until 2013, pushed back offshore oil lease sales in the Arctic until at least 2015 and blocked issuance of new regulations for coal ash from power plants.
