On June 25, 2013, President Obama announced a national "Climate Action Plan" to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and other greenhouse gases (GHG), as well as to encourage adaptation to expected climate change. During his speech, the President made reference to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline and stated that an evaluation of the pipeline's impact on climate change would factor into the State Department's national interest determination:
Allowing the Keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our nation's interest. The State Department, in its March 2013 Draft Environmental Impact Statement ( DEIS ) for the Keystone XL Pipeline, has produced one such assessment. It reports both "direct" GHG emissions from the construction and operation of the proposed pipeline as well as "indirect" emissions attributed to the production and use of the oil sands crudes that would be transported through the proposed pipeline. Based on its review of the available GHG emissions assessments, as well as an analysis of North American crude oil transport infrastructure and global crude oil markets , the State Department finds the following:
Approval or denial of the proposed Project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the amount of heavy crude oil refined in the Gulf Coast area. In summary, the DEIS reports that the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline "would be responsible for incremental GHG emissions in the range of 0.07 ... 5.30 MMTCO 2 e annually," and places these numbers in context by noting U.S. GHG emissions totaled 6,822 MMTCO 2 e in 2010 (excluding emissions/removals from land use, land-use change, and forestry), and global CO 2 emissions from fuel combustion totaled 30,326 MMCO 2 e. The incremental pipeline emissions would represent an increase of 0.001%-0.08% over the total domestic GHG inventory for the United States in 2010 and would be equivalent, at most, to the annual GHG emissions from the energy used in a little over 1 million passenger vehicles or the annual CO 2 emissions from the energy used in a little over a quarter million homes in the United States. The State Department has chosen a WTW assessment for the DEIS. 3. Based on future cost saving assumptions which the State Department projects for rail transport, the DEIS concludes "that the incremental increase in cost of rail compared to pipeline transport is $5 per barrel." Determining the effects that the incremental cost of rail transport may have on oil sands production. They argue that while many of the decisions that may affect the development of the oil sands will be made by the market and the national and provincial governments of Canada, the choice of whether or not to approve the permit for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline is an opportunity for the U.S. government to signal its future direction. On January 31, 2014, the State Department released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which contained revised analysis and estimates. For a detailed review of these findings see CRS Report R43415, Keystone XL: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessments in the Final Environmental Impact Statement , by [author name scrubbed] .
On June 25, 2013, President Obama announced a national "Climate Action Plan" to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG), as well as to encourage adaptation to expected climate change. During his speech, the President made reference to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline and stated that an evaluation of the project's impacts on climate change would factor into the U.S. State Department's national interest determination. The State Department, in the March 2013 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline, reports estimates for both the direct (i.e., operational) and indirect (i.e., associated with crude oil production and use) GHG emissions that would be attributable to the proposed project. The DEIS finds that "the proposed Project would be responsible for incremental GHG emissions in the range of 0.07 ... 5.3 [million metric tons of CO2 equivalent] annually." These emissions would represent an increase of 0.001%-0.08% over the domestic GHG emissions totals of 6,822 MMTCO2e in 2010. The State Department bases its findings on the following conclusions: (1) approval or denial of the proposed pipeline is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the amount of heavy crude oil refined in the Gulf Coast area in the long term, (2) denial of the proposed pipeline is offset entirely by the expansion of new rail and pipeline infrastructure in North America in the long term, and (3) the cumulative impact of the proposed pipeline would be the additional oil sands production that would become economical given the marginal cost savings afforded by the project over non-pipeline transport.
Many industry stakeholders, the Canadian and Albertan governments, and proponents of the proposed pipeline have generally supported the State Department's findings. 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, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), among other stakeholders, has questioned several of the conclusions put forth by the DEIS and recommended that the State Department revisit the analysis. Opponents of the project argue that the Keystone XL Pipeline may have greater impacts than projected in the DEIS if certain State Department assumptions were to differ, including projections for global crude oil markets, rail transport costs, new project costs, refinery inputs, and carbon pricing policies. Members of Congress remain divided on the merits of the proposed project, as many have expressed support for the potential energy security and economic benefits, while others have expressed reservations about its potential environmental impacts. Though Congress, to date, has had no direct role in permitting the pipeline's construction, it may have oversight stemming from federal environmental statutes that govern the review. Further, Congress may seek to influence the State Department's permitting process or to assert direct congressional authority over approval through new legislation.
On January 31, 2014, the State Department released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which contained revised analysis and estimates. For a detailed review of these findings, see CRS Report R43415, Keystone XL: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessments in the Final Environmental Impact Statement, by [author name scrubbed].