Free Republic

The Obama administration on Thursday said it was delaying a decision on the contested Keystone XL pipeline while it studies an alternate route through Nebraska, effectively pushing any action well past the 2012 election and into 2013. The State Department, which announced the decision, has been reviewing the proposed project since 2008 to determine whether it is in the national interest. “As a result of this process, particularly given the concentration of concerns regarding the environmental sensitivities of the current proposed route through the Sandhills area of Nebraska, the department has determined it needs to undertake an in-depth assessment of...

“It’s nature. I’m sorry it’s negatively affecting you,” STERLING, MA - A sump pump rumbled in the cellar of her Sterling home and a hose gurgled in the front yard as Mary B. Honan waited for a state Department of Conservation and Recreation official to arrive at her house earlier this week. The feisty Irish lilt in her voice falling flat, Ms. Honan declared herself the loser of a four-year war. “The beavers have won,” she said before the deputy director arrived. A native of Ireland, Ms. Honan fell in love with the energy of the United States in the...