"This is huge," crowed one prominent environmental campaigner. He was celebrating Barack Obama's decision on November 6th to reject the Keystone xl pipeline, which would have carried heavy oil from Canadian tar sands to the United States (see map). To Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, installed in office just two days before, the decision is both a headache and an opportunity. He will have to come up with a new way of exporting oil without breaking his promise to be a much greener prime minister than his Conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper. Protests and lobbying will now move from Washington to Ottawa. But Keystone xl's demise, weeks before a un conference on climate change in Paris, will make it easier for Mr Trudeau to forge a national consensus on climate policy and to portray Canada as a helpful partner at the global gathering.
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