The State Department announced today it would not allow the proposed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to move forward. The $7 billion would carry oil through six states from Canada to oil refineries on the Gulf Coast.
"This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people," President Obama said in a written statement. "I'm disappointed that Republicans in Congress forced this decision."
White House Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that "imposing an arbitrary 60-day deadline on this process would make it virtually impossible for an adequate review to take place."
Congress voted late last year to require the administration to make a decision by late February about whether to allow the pipeline to proceed as planned.
The State Department said that they were putting the project on hold "indefinitely," though the pipeline company will be allowed to submit a proposal for a new route.