TransCanada announced Monday, November 14, 2011, that the company will reroute its KeystoneXL pipeline through Nebraska. A news conference, held at the State Capitol Building, occurred after a series of acts of remarkable brinkmanship.
TransCanada told Nebraska’s Governor it would not change the route. It met with the Speaker of the State’s Legislature and told him a route change was out of the question.
Speaking to the US State Department, the company said changing the route would “jeopardize the project,” and “cost tens of thousands of jobs” according to a story reported last Friday in the New York Times.
On Monday, in Lincoln, as debate commenced in the Nebraska Legislature over changes in the State’s law to govern oil pipelines, Transcanada blinked. Suddenly, a route change is not out of the question, but part of the plan. And, suddenly Nebraskans will be included in the planning process through the State.
Although TransCanada’s announcement is good news for the Nebraska Sandhills and the Aquifer, two transforming messages must be derived from TransCanada’s conduct and recent events.| Full Story