The Keystone XL Pipeline Project, as proposed, would transport oil from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska through a pipeline crossing an international border. Various environmental and citizen groups have challenged the project. Whether it will be allowed to proceed now depends on issuance of a "presidential permit." Before Keystone, presidential permits were virtually unknown to the general public. This article will present some background on presidential permits and discuss how the Keystone experience may influence the presidential permit process in the future.
TransCanada Corp. initially proposed the Keystone Project in 2005. The Canadian National Energy Board first approved the Canadian portion of the project in September 2007. Public opposition in the United States, however, caused the owners of the project to change the proposed pipeline route to avoid the environmentally sensitive Nebraska Sand Hills region. With that change of route, the state of Nebraska conducted a supplemental environmental review and approved the project in January 2013.
