Obama to reject Keystone XL pipeline in victory for environmental activists

US president expected to turn down controversial TransCanada proposal to build 1,700-mile pipeline through six American heartland states
Barack Obama is expected on Friday to reject a proposal from TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline through the American heartland, the Guardian has learned, ending years of uncertainty about the project.

The White House disclosed on Friday morning that Obama was meeting with US secretary of state John Kerry in the Oval Office and that the president was set to make a statement in the Roosevelt Room, flanked by both Kerry and vice-president Joe Biden.

However, news of the substance of the announcement began to leak after opponents of the Keystone pipeline were informed on Friday morning by Obama administration sources that the project would be rejected.

Keystone XL was designed to pump crude from the Alberta tar sands for 1,700 miles and across six states to refineries on the Gulf coast. Over the years, the project has become a symbol of the greater political struggle surrounding Obama’s efforts to move away from fossil fuels and fight climate change.

 The proposed route for the Keystone XL pipeline. Photograph: The Guardian

Earlier this week, TransCanada asked the State Department to put its US permit application on hold, which marked a shift for a firm that had spent seven years relentlessly pushing for approval of the project.

Prospects for Keystone XL have been receding over the last year because of low oil prices, which made the project uneconomical, and amid political shifts in the US and Canada.

Jane Fleming Kleeb, founder of the Bold Nebraska coalition of citizens, farmers and ranchers opposed to the pipeline, told the Guardian: “It’s a long time coming. I feel like, honestly, the boots have beaten the big oil suits for the first time in the country’s history on a big major infrastructure project.

“I’m just proud, I can’t even believe it’s finally happening. The difference this time around was that farmers and ranchers were unified and stood up against the project – that made a huge difference. Something which would normally be decided in the halls of Congress was actually influenced by farmers and ranchers this time around.”