WASHINGTON (AP) — The company pleading for permission to build the Keystone XL pipeline looked beyond President Barack Obama on Tuesday in apparent hopes a future Republican president would greenlight the project. Questioning the motivation for the Canadian energy giant's request, the White House said "there might be politics at play" and Obama still intended to make the decision. Ahead of TransCanada's request, Keystone supporters had feared Obama would seize on a brief window between Canada's recent elections and the conclusion of global climate talks next month to kill the project in grand fashion, solidifying his environmental bona fides. Obama hopes to make a global climate pact the capstone of his environmental legacy and has sought to show aggressive action to curb carbon dioxide emissions as world leaders prepare to finalize an agreement in Paris. The pipeline has drawn intense ire from environmental groups who say it's inconsistent with Obama's goal to cut emissions and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. [...] TransCanada CEO Russ Girling, in a conference call to discuss corporate earnings Tuesday, said Keystone remains economically viable for the company, noting that oil prices are about the same now as they were in 2008 when the company first applied.