Pentagon has ‘no objection’ to Keystone

The Defense Department has reportedly told the State Department that it does not have a problem with approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline project.

Michael Bruhn, executive secretary to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, told State that the Pentagon’s position hasn’t changed since last March, when it also had no opposition to Keystone.

{mosads}“The Department is not aware of any substantive changes in the intervening period and it continues to have no objection to the granting of the subject permit to TransCanada,” Bruhn wrote in a letter obtained Monday.

The Pentagon is one of eight agencies that were asked to weigh in on whether approving the pipeline from Canada’s oil sands to the United States Gulf Coast would be in the country’s national interest, since it crosses an international border. It is the first agency to release its comments, which were due Feb. 2.

The input is meant to help Secretary of State John Kerry develop a recommendation to President Obama whether or not to approve the pipeline.

The Environmental Protection Agency released its letter on State’s separate environmental impact assessment, asking State to reconsider the potential impact Keystone would have on climate change.

The Pentagon told State that if it needed any Defense Department land, the agencies would have to establish a real estate agreement. Bloomberg Business first reported the Pentagon’s comments Friday.

Leaders at the departments of Interior, Energy, Justice, Commerce, Homeland Security and Transportation were also asked to submit comments on State’s national interest determination. Interior and Energy said they commented, but did not release their comments.