No Keystone XL If It Would Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

In his much-anticipated speech on climate policy, President Obama made an important statement about the approval process for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project. He said that the project should not be approved if it would lead to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. One question that this raises is whether the same standard would be any less applicable to other project approvals at the federal level. How about drilling leases? New coal mining operations? How about new or expanded highway projects? The list goes on.

For several years now, California has included greenhouse gas considerations in its environmental review of new projects. Setting a level of significance that would trigger full environmental review and mitigation requirements has always been controversial. In these times when carbon reduction is the critical objective, there is a strong argument that any increase in emissions resulting from a project should be considered unacceptable. It will interesting to see if this is the standard that the federal government will apply to the approval of Keystone XL and other federal actions.