President Barack Obama said Tuesday he will decide whether to approve the permit for a controversial 1,700-mile Canadian oil pipeline, rather than leaving the decision to the State Department. The proposal has become a charged political issue, with labor unions and business groups arguing that the pipeline—which would ship crude oil from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries—would create thousands of jobs. Environmentalists argue the extraction of the oil will accelerate global warming, and that the pipeline could spill and cause severe environmental harm.
Obama has said he will weigh the pipeline’s potential economic benefits against the possible environmental consequences. “They’ll be giving me a report over the next several months and, you know, my general attitude is: What is best for the American people? What’s best for our economy both short term and long term? But also: What’s best for the health of the American people?” A decision could come by the end of the year.
