The White House took further ownership of the final decision over a controversial Canada-U.S. oil pipeline yesterday as green groups pressed their case against the project ahead of weekend protests.

The State Department also indicated that a decision about a cross-border permit could be delayed until next year for Keystone XL, which would stretch 1,700 miles from Canada to Texas if built.

White House spokesman Jay Carney clarified comments President Obama made to an Omaha, Neb., TV station Tuesday when he indicated that he would do a thorough review of Keystone XL. It would carry a type of oil that is more carbon-intensive to produce than traditional forms, a factor that spurred environmental protests in Canada and the United States this year.

The president's comments that the State Department would be giving him a report spurred wide speculation that Obama would be snatching authority away from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to decide on a cross-border permit for TransCanada's Keystone XL. Many environmentalists said they saw that as a sign that the Obama administration was taking protests seriously.

When pressed yesterday, Carney did not say definitely that Obama would make the final decision about the $7 billion project, but indicated Obama would not rubber-stamp recommendations from the State Department.

"It is also true that this is the Obama administration, and we certainly don't expect, and the president does not expect, and you should not expect, that the ultimate outcome of this process will do anything but reflect the president's views," said Carney to reporters. "I don't think you'd see a situation where a decision is made by his administration that he doesn't support."

Repositioning the rhetoric

The comments signified a shift from last week, when Carney distanced Obama from the decision. Yesterday, Carney said that the review of Keystone XL is firmly housed at State under an executive order, but repeated several times that the final decision would reflect Obama's views.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed yesterday that Obama could make the decision himself despite an executive order delegating the review process of Keystone XL to Clinton.

"Right, there's nothing to preclude that," she said. She also hinted that a decision on Keystone XL may not come until next year, a prospect that has been brewing for days in the wake of a special session in the Nebraska Legislature to consider the state's oil pipeline policy.

"We'd like to get it done by the end of the year, but if thoroughness demands a little bit more time, nobody's slammed the door on that," Nuland said of Keystone XL.

State's decision on timing could be critical, considering that too long of a wait on a permit could threaten oil shipping agreements for the project and seal Keystone XL's fate(ClimateWire, Oct. 27). "Contracts for thousands of barrels from American producers have already been signed," TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha said in a statement yesterday. He said that the company was still expecting an end-of-the year verdict, considering State's production of environmental impact statements on time.

'A lot of barriers' remain

It is also not clear that Nebraska's state Legislature -- which began holding a special legislative session this week on pipelines -- will take action to reroute the pipeline, another option that could delay or kill the project.

Yesterday, Nebraska state legislators floated several bills for consideration. One of them, sponsored by Sen. Chris Langemeier, would establish a panel to examine the application process for oil pipeline routing in Nebraska and is probably the most viable legislative measure, said Jane Kleeb, executive director of Bold Nebraska.

At the same time, Kleeb said she had concerns that the legislative session would not lead to any significant change for Keystone XL, since Langemeier's bill would kick pipeline authority back to the governor. It's not clear that the bill, which has vague language, would force a rerouting of the pipeline, she said.

There are concerns in the environmental community that the process is just for show, to make it appear that Nebraska is taking a stand when in reality it will do little to challenge TransCanada, she said.

Meanwhile, both TransCanada and green groups in Washington, D.C., outlined their cases for and against the pipeline ahead of this weekend's protests.

On Sunday, more than 7,000 environmental activists opposed to the pipeline plan to make a circle on sidewalks around the White House for an hour, followed by rallies. Actor Mark Ruffalo, activist Bill McKibben and NASA climatologist James Hansen are among the expected speakers. No arrests are planned, said Kate Collarulli of the Sierra Club.

As they have in recent months, environmentalists made it clear yesterday that they will not stop protesting if Keystone XL is approved.

"We have landowners in Nebraska who will take this all the way to the Supreme Court," said Kleeb on a conference call with reporters. Others indicated that lawsuits and state-by-state fights could be coming.

Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, an analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that TransCanada won't be able to begin construction immediately if a permit is granted from the State Department. The Army Corps of Engineers and the six states that would hold the pipeline also will have an opportunity to weigh in, she said.

She questioned, for example, whether Texas will want to grant water permits for the pipeline, considering its recent drought.

"There's a lot of barriers," she said about the state permitting process.