Keystone XL pipeline map

The proposed Keystone pipeline would extend from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast. TransCanada needs a permit from the U.S. State Department to construct the northern leg of the project, because it crosses an international border. The State Department issued its environmental assessment of the project in late January 2014 and concluded the pipeline would not significantly alter global greenhouse-gas emissions. The decision now goes before Secretary of State John F. Kerry and President Obama. The southern leg, now named the Gulf Coast Pipeline, did not require such approval. TransCanada is set to begin using this segment Wednesday to ship crude oil from Cushing, Okla., to the Texas coast.