Obama rejects controversial Keystone XL pipeline to leave 'safer, greener planet'

Mr Obama had always indicated he was opposed to the project

US senators worked late Thursday to vote on amendments to a Keystone XL bill, setting the stage for a Senate vote next week (Getty)

The Obama administration has rejected the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, saying the project would not benefit job creation or energy security but would undermine his goal of “leaving our children a safer, cleaner planet”.

“The State Department has decided the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interests of the United States. I agree with that decision,” Mr Obama said on Friday morning at the White House.

Keystone XL would have linked existing pipeline networks in Canada and the United States to bring synthetic crude oil and diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries in Illinois and, eventually, the Gulf of Mexico coast.

"Shipping dirtier crude oil into our country would not increase America’s energy security,” he said.

Killing the pipeline allows Mr Obama to claim aggressive action on the environment, potentially strengthening his hand as world leaders prepare to finalise major global climate pact within weeks that Obama hopes will be a crowning jewel for his legacy.

Yet it also puts the president in a direct confrontation with Republicans and energy advocates that will almost surely spill over into the 2016 presidential election.

Immediately, some of the his Republican critics spoke out against the decision.

“The Obama admin's politically motivated rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline is a self-inflicted attack on the U.S. economy and jobs,” former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said on Twitter.

US Senator Marco Rubio, another presidential candidate, vowed to approve the pipeline if he wins the White House in 2016.