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Keystone XL Rejection: The Road Not Taken / Charles K. Ebinger and Govinda Avasarala, Brookings, 18/01/2012http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2012/0118_keystone_pipeline_ebinger.aspxIn a widely expected decision, the Obama administration on Wednesday rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, as the proposal currently stands. It has left the option open for approving a pipeline that has a revised route through Nebraska, one which protects Nebraska’s Sand Hills region and the Ogallala aquifer. The decision will most certainly be revisited over and over (and over) again as the country marches toward the 2012 presidential election. However, how this decision impacts Obama’s reelection outlook is an issue of lesser importance. Also, the decision isn’t interesting either for its shock-value or for its implications on the environment or U.S. energy security. The real concern is that it became such a vaunted debate in the first place...