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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said that the US should approve the Keystone XL pipeline because it does little environmental damage and will benefit the economies of the world海角吃瓜网檚 largest trading partners.

Harper and his ministers are ramping up efforts to win support for critical pipeline projects going west, east and south, at the same time the exact content 海角吃瓜网� and existence 海角吃瓜网� of a reported letter to US President Barack Obama on a climate plan and the Keystone XL remains a mystery.

海角吃瓜网淲e continue to be open to working with our American partners,海角吃瓜网� Harper told reporters recently. The project海角吃瓜网檚 海角吃瓜网渆nvironmental impacts are manageable and not significant,海角吃瓜网� Harper said, adding 海角吃瓜网渢he project will enhance energy security for North America.海角吃瓜网�

According to reports from Ottawa, Harper wrote to Obama last month to ease environmental concerns about Keystone. Harper allegedly sent a letter in late August to Obama proposing 海角吃瓜网渏oint action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas sector海角吃瓜网� if it will help win approval of the Keystone XL oilsands pipeline from Alberta to the US Gulf Coast, CBC News reported last week.

Obama said in a June speech Keystone shouldn海角吃瓜网檛 be approved if it were found to 海角吃瓜网渟ignificantly exacerbate海角吃瓜网� greenhouse-gas emissions.

TransCanada海角吃瓜网檚 KXL is part of Canada海角吃瓜网檚 oilsands strategy

The pipeline linking Alberta海角吃瓜网檚 oilsands to US Gulf Coast refineries was proposed by Calgary-based Transcanada Corp. five years ago and must be approved by Obama after a State Department review.

Harper also said his country remains open to foreign investment after setting some restrictions on how state-owned corporations can bid on oil sands assets.

海角吃瓜网淲e favour a diverse and competitive business environment,海角吃瓜网� Harper said. He also said state-owned corporations will remain a part of government海角吃瓜网檚 foreign investment strategy.

Harper restricted foreign takeovers by state-owned corporations in Alberta海角吃瓜网檚 oilsands to 海角吃瓜网渆xceptional circumstances海角吃瓜网� in December when he approved CNOOC Ltd海角吃瓜网檚 Cdn$ 15.1 billion takeover of Nexen Inc.

Rolling out pipeline campaigns

Prime Minister Harper is dispatching a number of his ministers and senior bureaucrats to B.C. in the coming weeks to meet with First Nations chiefs, part of an ongoing effort to see progress on a couple of proposed pipeline projects that would send Alberta oilsands to the West Coast for shipment to lucrative markets in Asia and elsewhere.

Ottawa has also been ratcheting up its campaign to convince Washington to approve the Keystone XL oilsands pipeline.

But the Conservative government won海角吃瓜网檛 confirm whether Harper has, indeed, written a letter to the US president agreeing to harmonise Canada海角吃瓜网檚 greenhouse gas regulations for the oil and gas sector with the US in hopes of getting the Obama administration to approve Keystone.

Tactics

海角吃瓜网淚t海角吃瓜网檚 as though the Canadian government is trying to find a face-saving way for the President to claim moral victory and just move on,海角吃瓜网� said Christopher Sands, a specialist in Canada-US relations at the Hudson Institute, a think-tank in Washington D.C.

Obama has boxed himself into a corner on Keystone XL, so having the Canadian government agree to work with the US on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector could be a way to approve the pipeline while still demonstrating some action on climate change, he said.

海角吃瓜网淚t maybe lets Obama say 海角吃瓜网業 got something for my strategy. I didn海角吃瓜网檛 blow this one,海角吃瓜网櫤＝浅怨贤鴿 Sands said. 海角吃瓜网淗e allowed this thing [Keystone] to become a bigger problem than it might have been.海角吃瓜网�

The US$ 5.3 billion Keystone XL pipeline would transport 830 000 bpd of oil primarily from Alberta海角吃瓜网檚 oilsands and the Bakken formation in North Dakota to refineries on the US Gulf Coast.

The Harper government says the Keystone XL project is an important component of trying to increase pipeline capacity and getting western Canadian crude to market.

Opposition to the pipeline

Environmentalists on both sides of the border are cynical about reports of this alleged prime ministerial appeal to the White House for common North American greenhouse-gas emissions standards in the oil and gas sector.

A statement from 350.org, a group of international climate-change activists, described the reported overture as "a last-ditch bait-and-switch by the Canadian government."

And the Sierra Club of Canada and Greenpeace Canada both said any Canadian promises on climate change ring hollow after years of government inaction.

Critics also point out that any pipeline that increases the export capacity of oilsands production will only make it more difficult for Canada to meet its greenhouse-gas emissions targets.

The final approval on the project rests with Obama, but it appears a decision won海角吃瓜网檛 be announced until 2014.

Edited from various sources by

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