With environmental activists telling the U.S. government to shun the Keystone XL pipeline, the White House shifted the focus to “ideological” influence. The Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network and more than a dozen environmental campaign groups held “protest vigils” Monday to express frustration with a State Department assessment on the Keystone XL oil pipeline. TransCanada submitted its application to build the pipeline more than five years ago. It needs federal approval as a cross-border pipeline. President Obama said he’d weigh the project against its environmental footprint and the State Department last week said it saw few problems with the pipeline in that regard. Amanda Starbuck, climate director for Rainforest Action Network, said in a statement protesters took to the streets in more than 270 cities to “demonstrate their personal opposition to Keystone XL.” Groups like hers say there were problems cited by the State […]