Bowing
to pressure from Republican presidential candidates’ campaign rhetoric
respecting the price of motor fuel at the pump, President Obama will officially
announce tomorrow that he is issuing an executive order directing federal
agencies to “fast track” permitting for pipelines that alleviate “choke points,”
including the 485 mile, $2.3 billion segment of the Keystone XL pipeline from
Chushing, Oklahoma to the Texas gulf coast. The decision will reverse the
policy of the Obama administration announced last January, when the president
refused to accelerate the Keystone XL permitting process.
TransCanada
expects to complete the Oklahoma to Texas segment of Keystone XL within a year
from final permit approval. Whether either approval of the pipeline or
completion of its construction will actually reduce gasoline prices at the pump
remains to be seen.
