The controversial Keystone pipeline construction decision was pushed back by the State Department on Thursday, delaying until after the 2012 presidential election.
The proposed pipeline has created plenty of buzz in the Washington metro area, as everyone from oil companies, to businesses, to environmentalist had an interest in the decision.
Many are saying that by pushing the decision back, the executive branch is avoiding a politically toxic issue.
“I think it’s a controversial issue and (President) Obama didn’t want it to be linked to him this close to the elections,” said Ana Matos, a senior mathematics major.
While TransCanada, the company who wants to build the Canada to Texas pipeline, has said the construction would create 20,000 jobs, environmentalist are more concerned about the dangers of transporting oil all the way down to the Gulf area.
This has caused serious polarization on the issue, with the majority of Republicans supporting the pipeline and the majority of Democrats opposing it.
After hearing the news, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, the Speaker of the House, tweeted his dissatisfaction with the decision.
“@WhiteHouse punts on Keystone project; 20,000 #jobs sacrificed in the name of political expediency,” Boehner tweeted.
On campus, some students question if now is the time to hold off on a potential job-creating project.
“Normally I would consider myself very environmentally conscious. However, we are currently in such dire economic circumstances that it might be worth creating some minor environmental issues to be dealt with later in order to create more jobs and attempt to spark our economy,” said Ethan Scholl, a junior English and journalism double major.
The State Department said it wants to seek alternatives to the program, and already has 14 other routes the pipeline could take.
Russ Girling, the CEO of TransCanada, believes that the United States may be making a mistake by delaying the project, which could potentially hurt U.S. refineries.
“Supplies of heavy crude from Venezuela and Mexico to U.S. refineries will soon end,” Girling told USA Today. “If Keystone XL is continually delayed, these refiners may have to look for other ways of getting the oil they need.”