Pro-pipeline group presses EPA for Keystone XL documents

The Institute for Energy Research is seeking internal Obama administration documents about the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to determine whether President Obama’s rejection of the project was a political decision. The group, which supports the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline and frequently bashes White House energy policy, already believes the answer is yes. But on Friday it filed a broad Freedom of Information Act request with the Environmental Protection Agency. The group is seeking EPA communications about the project with the State Department (which has led federal review of Keystone), the White House, several environmental groups, and Nebraska lawmakers. “One troubling aspect of the President’s decision is that it appears to have been influenced by political factors and not whether the pipeline is in the national interest,” the nonprofit group’s request states, pointing to major anti-pipeline demonstrations that environmental groups staged last year...more