Alberta premier says climate change key to progress on Keystone pipeline

EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says progress on addressing climate change is the key to getting pipelines built.

She made the comment a day after TransCanada Corp. asked the U.S. government to put a hold on the company’s permit application for the Keystone XL pipeline.

The line would take Alberta crude across the United States to refineries and ports on the Gulf Coast.

The line has been a flashpoint of controversy given its economic potential versus potential harm to the environment.

Notley says concrete plans to reduce climate change would go a long way to giving pipeline advocates and producers the social licence to succeed.

A panel is working on such a strategy for Notley, who plans to take it to Paris in a few weeks for a global climate change conference.