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• The White House has insisted the State Department is making the decision about whether the pipeline is in the national interest, but Obama made it clear Tuesday he was instructing the department to approve it only if the project won't increase overall, net emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
• A State Department report on the pipeline earlier this year acknowledged that development of tar sands in Alberta would create greenhouse gases, but also made clear that other methods to transport the oil -- including rail, trucks and barges -- also pose a risk to the environment. For instance, a scenario that would move the oil on trains to mostly existing pipelines would release 8 percent more greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide than Keystone XL, the State report said.
• The report also said that even without the pipeline, extraction of oil from the tar sands would likely not be affected.
• A top aide to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Obama's comments indicated that the pipeline should be approved.
• "The standard the president set today should lead to speedy approval of the Keystone pipeline," Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said. "Based on the lengthy review by the State Department, construction of the pipeline would not have a significant environmental impact. It's time to sign off on Keystone and put Americans to work."
• Still, environmentalist took heart in Obama's remarks, noting it was the first time the administration had directly linked approval of the 1,700-mile pipeline to its effect on pollution. The White House has previously resisted efforts by environmental groups to link the Keystone project to broader efforts to curb carbon pollution from power plants.
• "Today President Obama set a standard that the Keystone XL pipeline cannot harm the climate if it is to be approved. That will be difficult standard to meet," said Daniel J. Weiss, a senior fellow at the liberal leaning Center for American Progress.
• "For the first time, the president has set a do-no-climate harm standard before he approves the Keystone XL pipeline," Weiss said.
• Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said the argument that the pipeline will exacerbate climate change is "very strong and compelling." He said he expects Obama to reject the pipeline.
• TransCanada, the Calgary-based company that has proposed the pipeline, said in a statement Tuesday it was pleased with Obama's comments setting out criteria for pipeline approval.
• "The almost five-year review of the project has already repeatedly found that these criteria are satisfied," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and CEO.

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