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Obama rejects Keystone XL application

US President Barack Obama has rejected the proposed Keystone XL project.

The company will be allowed to re-apply for the project again, once it comes up with an alternate route through environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska.

The decision comes after house Republicans passed a bill, forcing President Barack Obama to make a decision on the oil sands pipeline before February 21st.

American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard says he can’t understand how Obama can say no, while the vast majority of Americans want the 7 billion dollar project approved.

“They know America will need more oil, they see the benefits of importing oil from Canada,” he said. “And they believe this energy can be developed responsibly.”

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt says the decision is just Obama’s way of telling the Republicans to back off.

“Dead is never dead,” said Bratt. “I think what they’re killing is something that is already dead – and that’s the first route.”

Premier Alison Redford says it’s not necessarily a setback for the project.

“There wasn’t a decision to proceed with it today, so from that perspective, perhaps [it is a setback],” she said. “I believe that what we now have is clarity with respect to next steps.”