Obama Says No to Keystone
“If Congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it”
Earlier this week, the State Department rejected an industry request that they pause their review of the Keystone XL pipeline until the conclusion of negotiations between Nebraska policymakers and TransCanada officials. State rejected this request, and today, President Obama officially rejected TransCanada’s request to build the Keystone XL pipeline.
President Obama’s approval was required for the project’s completion, as construction would cross an international border.
More from the WSJ:
“The State Department has decided that the Keystone XL Pipeline would not serve the national interest of the U.S.,” President Barack Obama said in brief remarks from the White House. “I agree with that decision.”
Mr. Obama cited the urgency of climate change, and the need for American leadership on that problem, as key reasons for his decision.
Mr. Obama, who has made environmental issues a centerpiece of his second term, had signaled deep misgivings about the pipeline project as he pursued an expansive agenda aimed at fighting climate change.
The president said Friday that the pipeline had occupied an overinflated role in political discourse, adding that it was neither a silver bullet for the economy nor an express lane to climate disaster. The project would not have lowered gas prices, improved energy security or made a long-term contribution to the economy, Mr. Obama said.
“If Congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it,” he said.
.@POTUS: #KeystoneXL would not increase U.S. energy security https://t.co/omTvHI7d2I https://t.co/9tbjvdIxse
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 6, 2015
Following the announcement, the president promptly took to Twitter to celebrate himself:
BREAKING: President Obama just took another huge step to #ActOnClimate by rejecting the #KeystoneXL pipeline.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 6, 2015
…at which point a bipartisan caucus responded in kind:
POTUS's rejection of #KeystoneXL is hardly news since his veto; rather, it is a futile act by increasingly lame duck POTUS. #itisnotover
— JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) November 6, 2015
If the president wants to spend his time in office catering to special interests, that’s his choice to make. But it’s just wrong.#KeystoneXL
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) November 6, 2015
.@POTUS remains controlled by a radical environmentalist agenda #KeystoneXL https://t.co/zDzYJPeLc5
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) November 6, 2015
.@Sen_JoeManchin: The decision to reject the #KeystoneXL pipeline was purely political https://t.co/xWcsMy0Qp4 pic.twitter.com/irvENN9WOS
— EnergyTomorrow (@EnergyTomorrow) November 6, 2015
Obama’s rejection of #KeystoneXL will flush American jobs down the drain… all to appease the agenda of science denying radicals.
— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) November 6, 2015
.@POTUS rejected the Keystone pipeline. @marcorubio says when he's president it will be approved. Agree? pic.twitter.com/5URWus7vDm
— Varney & Co. (@Varneyco) November 6, 2015
Overwhelmingly, both sitting officials and GOP candidates are focusing on jobs and the economy; the Administration and environmental activists, on the other hand, are looking to score points against…you guessed it:
In deciding against Keystone, @JohnKerry says "critical factor" was that it would "significantly undermine" efforts against climate change.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 6, 2015
Since this project first began almost a decade ago, discussion over Keystone has amounted to little more than a battle against special interest talking points about climate change, the environment, and alternative energy options. TransCanada’s critics have repeatedly accused the company of trying to drag out the process until a potentially more sympathetic (read: not in the thrall of the enviro lobby) administration takes control in 2017; even if this is true, who could blame them?
The Obama administration’s blatant and continued rejection of the pipeline project was fueled by political interests. They repeatedly ignored the demands of a bipartisan group of lawmakers, and instead capitulated at the altar of political correctness.
This is a huge blow, but Senator Cornyn is right—this is not over.
Update—both TransCanada and the Canadian government have issued statements:
"rhetoric won out over reason" says TransCanada in response to Keystone XL rejection. pic.twitter.com/pF8gPNSYjV
— Jackson Proskow (@JProskowGlobal) November 6, 2015
.@JustinTrudeau statement on Keystone XL pic.twitter.com/AOHxeFm5N5
— Althia Raj (@althiaraj) November 6, 2015
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Comments
“If Congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it,” [Barracula] said.
Like he’d know how to create a job if it came up and bit him in his ass…
Congress or POTUS don’t “create” real jobs. All they can hope to do is get out of the way, and let the private sector (i.e, “the market”) do that.
Morons.
DC is in the business of job losses, not job creation. Between the fed and the states, it’s amazing our unemployment rates aren’t higher.
Unemployment rates ARE higher, just hidden.
He’s right about that much. It was always a mistake to sell the project for jobs and energy costs. It’s just normal business, the safest and most efficient transport for oil, and that should be enough. There is and was no practical reason to oppose it, but the false claims of proponents obviously didn’t help.
The government may be terrible at “creating jobs” directly, but by reducing taxes and regulations they could provide a much better environment for job-creating growth.
Typical Obama –
Canada says it’s tired of playing games and is putting the project on the backburner
Obama spikes the football and yells touchdown. Nothing new.
I guess it’s not ‘shovel ready’.
So, if we are to believe John ‘n Kerry, this administration actually believes it can stop the climate from changing….
Good to know.
Nothing new. *yawn* O’Turd Boy will never do anything to benefit our nation. Never.
Phew! I almost missed my chance to be on TV today! (he says)
This shows that climate change is another name for class warfare. Everyone knows that global warming is not backed by a single scientific principle, and that has been demonstrated a number of times.
In essence, Obama said that he was rich and we were poor, and he intended to keep it that way.
To add frosting to the cake, Obama defended and approved of British Petroleum drilling a mile deep in the ocean which resulted in an ecological disaster, but running a pipeline across a prairie is crazy talk, in Obama’s world.
It’s very simple. It’s Chicago politics kicked up to the national level. The Keystone Pipeline would pass through red states, which means that since those states voted the wrong way, they don’t get patronage.
Don’t forget that Warren Buffet, one of Obama’s biggest funders, owns lots and lots of rail oil-tanker cars. With a finished pipeline he’s lose millions.
Environmental wacko billionaire Tom Steyer also made most of his money financing Asian coal mergers. His company is privately held, so we have no idea how much Asian coal stock he still holds, but those deals typically pay commissions in stock, not cash.
And anything that raises the price of energy tends to increase the value of Asian coal stocks. Maybe that’s a coincidence, and Steyer attacks fossil fuels now due to change of heart. Maybe.
It only took him 7 years to work up the courage to say what he always wanted to say.
Hillary was actually for it before she was against it. No direct word from John Kerry, reportedly depressed at not getting the Nobel Peace Prize.