The U.S. State Department’s inspector general has opened a “special review” of the department’s handling of permitting for the 1,700-mile Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, which could delay the final decision on the line until after the 2012 election. Opponents of the pipeline have expressed concern that the company the State Department hired to conduct environmental impact statements on the pipeline had financial ties to TransCanada. The inspector general’s announcement came a day after some 10,000 pipeline opponents formed a ring around the White House to protest the pipeline.