TransCanada still does not have deals with all the landowners in Nebraska on the pipeline's proposed route and it lacks a permit in that state. -Canada border, Trump sat smiling in the Oval Office beside the president of the Canadian company.

However, refiners in U.S. Gulf Coast and the MidWest spent billions of dollars prior to the shale-oil boom in configuring their operations to handle the diluted bitumen that comes from the oil sands. TransCanada submitted an application to the PSC last month, and the commission now has 210 days to weigh public comments and hear concerns. They've pledged to deploy a variety of strategies - including litigation and civil disobedience - to derail the pipeline, as they did during the Obama administration. "By the way, this is a case we are making in America when we are there is that we would like to see the Buy America provision removed from pipelines, because Evraz would like to continue to sell pipe into projects in places like Texas and Louisiana". The answer to that is 'never, ' said Bill McKibben of 350.org, an organization that works to reverse carbon pollution. "The fight will be very real and very intense".

Former president Barack Obama rejected the previous Keystone proposal, saying it wasn't in the USA national interest. The department concluded that building Keystone is in the national interest, reversing the view of the Obama administration.

"It's really only helping oil companies".

In November 2015, after years of foot-dragging, Barack Obama finally blocked the Keystone XL Pipeline.

With Trump's election, organizers are now evaluating whether to encourage these pledge signers to engage in civil disobedience. Which could end up looking a lot like the fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline past year. "Authorities there ready to use pretty extreme force on Native Americans and water protectors who were peacefully putting their bodies on the line". Commissioners must determine whether a project serves the public interest.

"The Keystone has been expressly exempted from the president's executive order on Buy America", said Wall. "We want to ensure we have more than one customer, as much as we love Americans".

But pipeline opponents point out that the State Department findings carried a more pessimistic caveat: that if no other pipelines got built, and oil prices remained low, then Keystone XL actually might lead to more production and therefore pollution.

"The presidential permit for the Keystone XL is a welcome step forward to securing improved energy infrastructure in Nebraska and nationally, while also creating jobs and ensuring our energy independence", Ricketts said in a statement Friday.

The pipeline will transport 35 million gallons of oil every day, posing an environmental threat to the USA public and wildlife, the CBD stated in a press release. If the Trump administration won't promote and invest in renewable energy, jobs in that sector will also go elsewhere - Mr. Trump's recently-proposed "skinny budget" would eliminate longstanding programs that invest in green energy, which has been among the nation's fastest growing job sectors.

Larry Wright Jr., chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, said the company has not consulted with the tribe about whether the pipeline route disturbs any cultural or burial sites.