Among the various environmental impacts identified in the FEIS are those involving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On March 23, 2017, the State Department issued a Presidential Permit for the project, having determined that issuing the permit "would serve the national interest." The Department announced that the Record of Decision and National Interest Determination (2017 Determination) for the Presidential Permit "is informed by" the 2014 FEIS. It cites no new documentation aside from fresh communications with the Canadian pipeline company. The State Department, in the FEIS for the Keystone XL Pipeline project, has produced one such assessment. In addition to a general assessment of the oil sands resource, the FEIS includes an analysis of (1) the GHG emissions associated with the construction and operation of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline (i.e., the impacts of issuing a Presidential Permit); (2) the GHG emissions associated with using other transport options (i.e., impacts of denying the permit application); and (3) the GHG emissions attributable to the production and use of the oil sands crudes that would be transported to market, regardless of the transport option assumed. The State Department characterizes the GHG emissions attributable to the construction and operation of the project (as well as the alternatives to the project) as "direct and indirect GHG emissions." This value is generated by examining the full GHG emissions profile of oil sands crudes (i.e., the aggregate GHG emissions released by all activities from the extraction of the resource to the refining, transportation, and end-use combustion of refined fuels). The project would emit approximately 0.24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) equivalents (MMTCO 2 e) during the construction period and 1.44 MMTCO 2 e per year during normal operations. The range of incremental life-cycle GHG emissions attributable to the oil sands crudes that would be transported through the proposed pipeline is estimated to be 1.3 to 27.4 MMTCO 2 e per year over and above the life-cycle GHG emissions attributable to the crude oils expected to be displaced in U.S. refineries. As projected in the market analysis, "approval or denial of any one crude oil transport project, including the proposed project, is unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands or the continued demand for heavy crude oil at refineries in the United States based on expected oil prices, oil-sands supply costs, transport costs, and supply-demand scenarios." EPA reports total domestic GHG emissions for all sectors in 2012 to be 6,502 MMTCO 2 e, thus making the incremental emissions attributable to the project comparable to 0.02%-0.4% of U.S. annual emissions. It reports construction emissions of 0.24 MMTCO 2 e (due to land use changes, electricity use, and fuels for construction vehicles) and pipeline operation emissions of 1.44 MMTCO 2 e/year (due to electricity for pumping stations, fuels for maintenance and inspection vehicles, and fugitive emissions). The Demand Argument . Members of Congress remain divided on the merits of the project, as many have expressed support for the potential energy security and economic benefits, while others have reservations about its potential health and environmental impacts. Though Congress, to date, has had no direct role in permitting the pipeline's construction, it has oversight stemming from federal environmental statutes that govern the review.
On March 23, 2017, the State Department issued a Presidential Permit for the border facilities of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, having determined that issuing the permit "would serve the national interest." The Department announced that the Record of Decision and National Interest Determination for the Presidential Permit "is informed by" the 2014 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). It cites no new documentation aside from fresh communications with the Canadian pipeline company.
State Department Assessment
The State Department released the FEIS on January 31, 2014, to inform the project's national interest determination. Among the various environmental impacts analyzed, the FEIS estimates GHG emissions that would be attributable to both the approval and the denial of the permit application for the project. The FEIS finds that
the direct and indirect GHG emissions released during the construction period for the project would be approximately 0.24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents (MMTCO2e) due to land use changes, electricity use, and fuels for construction vehicles (this estimate is comparable to 0.004% of U.S. annual GHG emissions); the direct and indirect GHG emissions released during normal operations would be approximately 1.44 MMTCO2e/year due to electricity use for pumping stations, fuels for maintenance and inspection vehicles, and fugitive emissions (this estimate is comparable to 0.02% of U.S. annual GHG emissions); the total, or "gross," life-cycle GHG emissions (i.e., the aggregate GHG emissions released by all activities from the extraction of the resource to the refining, transportation, and end-use combustion of refined fuels) attributable to the oil sands crudes transported through the proposed pipeline would be approximately 147 to 168 MMTCO2e per year (this estimate is comparable to 2.2%-2.6% of U.S. annual GHG emissions); the incremental, or "net," life-cycle GHG emissions (i.e., life-cycle GHG emissions over and above those from the crude oils expected to be displaced in U.S. refineries) are estimated to be 1.3 to 27.4 MMTCO2e per year (this estimate is comparable to 0.02%-0.4% of U.S. annual GHG emissions); but according to the State Department's market analysis, "approval or denial of any one crude oil transport project, including the proposed project, is unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands or the continued demand for heavy crude oil at refineries in the United States based on expected oil prices, oil-sands supply costs, transport costs, and supply-demand scenarios."
Many oil industry stakeholders, the Canadian and Albertan governments, and proponents of the project have supported the analysis as presented in the FEIS. They contend that the demand for the oil sands resource, as well as the economic incentives for producers and the Canadian governments, is too significant to dampen production. However, other stakeholders have questioned several of the conclusions in the FEIS and argue that the project may have greater climate change impacts than projected, depending upon the assumptions selected from the range of scenarios considered in the FEIS. These assumptions include projections for global market conditions, crude oil prices, rail transport costs, new project costs, refinery inputs, and carbon regulatory policies in the United States or Canada.
Congressional Attention
Members of Congress remain divided on the merits of the project, as many have expressed support for the potential energy security and economic benefits, while others have reservations about its potential health and environmental impacts. Though Congress, to date, has had no direct role in permitting the pipeline's construction, it has oversight stemming from federal environmental statutes that govern the review.