Washington, April 21 (RHC)-- The Barack Obama administration has again delayed a decision on approval or rejection of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The U.S. State Department says it will await the results of legal challenges to the pipeline’s proposed route through the state of Nebraska, which would not come until after the mid-term elections in November.

It is now the third consecutive year the White House has put off a final ruling on the Keystone XL’s fate. The pipeline would carry tar sands oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. Environmentalists say that would unleash a devastating amount of carbon into the atmosphere.

An anti-Keystone XL protest is slated for Washington, D.C., later this week when a coalition of ranchers, farmers and native groups stage "Reject and Protect," a week-long encampment on the National Mall.