Obama: Willing to review Keystone permits (by David B. Wilkerson)

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- President Obama said Thursday that he is willing to consider future permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, but that Congress tried to force him into a decision too quickly, leading to his rejection of the proposal. Obama, speaking in Cushing, Okla. at the site of a pipeline slated to run from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast of Texas, said his administration needed more time than Congress was willing to grant to research the Keystone project. The president said the Congressional timeline was based on politics, rather than properly evaluating the environmental impact of the pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline was to run from Canada to Texas. Meanwhile, Obama said he is acting to expedite construction of the Oklahoma-based pipeline.