Obama administration delays Keystone XL pipeline decision, again

The U.S. State Department announced on Friday that the Obama administration is extending the amount of time federal agencies will have to weigh in on the Keystone XL pipeline.

No new deadline was given, which likely means that nothing will happen until after the November elections, reports CBS News. Part of the reason for the delay is reportedly because the administration is waiting upon a ruling from Nebraska's high court.

The state Supreme Court is looking into whether a struck down law allowing the pipeline to go through Nebraska should be reinstated. Their ruling isn't expected for another several months.

Unsurprisingly Republicans slammed the decision to further delay any movement on the Keystone XL pipeline, while environmental groups saw it as a positive sign, according to Reuters. House Speaker John Boehner called the move "shameful" and citing the supposed job creation as a reason to move forward and that politics was the only thing holding President Barack Obama back.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called out the Obama administration as not being "serious about American energy and American jobs." The Republican leader said, "Apparently radical activists carry more weight than Americans desperate to get back on the job."

Senior counsel Jim Murphy from the environmental group National Wildlife Federation saw the delay as a reason the pipeline is "a bad idea that needs to be rejected." He added that the administration just needs to look at the facts to know it will only worsen carbon pollution.

Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vp of government affairs with the League of Conservation Voters said the delay "makes us even more confident that the harmful Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will ultimately be rejected."

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