Federal officials postponed a crucial permitting decision for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline Thursday afternoon, issuing plans to consider a new route for the project. The pipeline was proposed by Calgary-based TransCanada to link a vast oil patch in Alberta to refineries in Texas. The additional review would not likely be concluded until the early months of 2013, Obama administration officials said, adding that they would, among other things, weigh the impacts of the pipeline on the global climate in making a final decision of whether it is in the national interest.

The delay pushes a decision on the contentious proposal well beyond the 2012 presidential election in November, allowing President Obama to avoid a politically fractious determination in the midst of his reelection bid.

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Photo Caption: A protestor against the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline climbs on a Keith Haring sculpture as he demonstrates outside of the W Hotel where U.S. President Barack Obama was holding a fundraiser on October 25, 2011 in San Francisco, California. Hundreds of protestors from a wide variety of activist groups staged protests outside of the W Hotel where President Obama was holding a $7,500 per person fundraiser.