State Department Report on Keystone XL Puts Pressure on Obama to Make Decision

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Crash sites like this will be more common
without Keystone XL approval, says report
From the Huffington Post:
The State Department study made no specific recommendation, but in broad terms suggested that Keystone was unlikely to have much impact on climate change, as oil trains would be used instead to carry growing Canadian production to market.

That finding cheered proponents, who said it left Obama with few reasons not to approve the pipeline, and frustrated environmentalists who argue that rejecting it would help stymie energy-intensive oil sands production and processing.

The State Department's estimate on the potential human toll of relying more heavily on oil-trains may not only add to calls for Obama to grant the Keystone permit, but may also play into the lobbying battle between the rail and pipeline industries, both of which argue they are safe and environmentally sound.

Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State in charge of environmental affairs, told reporters on a conference call on Friday that the study examined the environmental and safety impacts of shipping oil by rail rather than pipeline, but declined to elaborate on the findings.
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