The Nebraska Public Service Commission voted this week to deny motions to reconsider its Keystone XL Pipeline decision.
The commission voted 5-0 after hearing oral arguments from pipeline developer TransCanada and the Sierra Club.
The motion to have the commission reconsider its earlier vote was a move to amend the application for the pipeline. The original order was not for TransCanada’s preferred route for the line and the company called it “unworkable”.
Sierra Club attorney Ken Winston was obviously pleased with the vote.
“This should send a message to TransCanada and their investors that Nebraskans don’t want their tar sands pipeline,” he said. “If they choose to appeal, we will continue to fight the Keystone XL tar sands export pipeline until it is finally stopped.”
There is the potential that the case is not ended. TransCanada still has the option of taking its case to an appeals court.
If and when the pipeline is ever built, tar sand oil from Canada would eventually flow through pipelines in Oklahoma and onto Gulf Coast refineries.
