A TransCanada Keystone Pipeline pump station operates outside Steele City, Nebraska, in this file photo taken March 10, 2014. The United States formally denied a request on Wednesday to pause the review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, a decision expected to lead to the project’s rejection by the Obama administration. TransCanada Corp’s request to the State Department for a delay was seen by many as an attempt to postpone the decision until after President Barack Obama left office and a new president more friendly to the plan took over in 2017. The White House declined to comment on the State Department’s decision. Secretary of State John Kerry has not given a timeline for making a recommendation on the $8 billion project. “The secretary believes that, out of respect for that process and all the input that has gone into it, that it is the most appropriate thing […]