The oil giant TransCanada has agreed to reroute its proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline to avoid a critical state aquifer in Nebraska. After initially joining with environmentalists to oppose the project, Nebraska officials have now approved a deal that would see TransCanada divert its planned pipeline away from the state’s Sandhills region. The move comes just days after the Obama administration delayed a final decision on approving the pipeline until 2013, citing the need for an environmental review. In a statement, the environmental activist Bill McKibben, who’s helped lead the campaign Tar Sands Action, said, “We’re awfully happy that the Ogallala Aquifer is going to be safe, and the Sandhills — that only leaves the entire atmosphere of the planet to worry about.”