![cp-keystone-pipeline[1]](https://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/cp-keystone-pipeline1.jpg?quality=83)
Craig Rucker of CFACT writes:
After years of deliberate delays President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline today. This is a victory for radical environmentalists and those who wish America ill.
It is a punch in the face to everyone else. Keystone XL is a clean, safe way to transport Canadian oil to American refineries and markets.
It would bring jobs along with abundant, affordable energy. Stopping the pipeline has no meaningful benefits for the environment and will create no meaningful change to global temperature. House Speaker Paul Ryan had this to say:
“This decision isn’t surprising, but it is sickening,” the Wisconsin Republican said. “By rejecting this pipeline, the president is rejecting tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.”
“He is rejecting our largest trading partner and energy supplier. He is rejecting the will of the American people and a bipartisan majority of the Congress,” he added. “If the president wants to spend the rest of his time in office catering to special interests, that’s his choice to make. But it’s just wrong. In the House, we are going to pursue a bold agenda of growth and opportunity for all.”
President Obama’s bad decision indicates that his White House is truly captive to the radical eco-left.
If the President is this bad on energy policy it indicates that there may be no limits to how bad a climate agreement he may sign in Paris.
At the White House sound understanding of science, energy and the environment have left the building.
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When looking back at the keystone pipeline only proper presentation historically is as political theater.
Since we are currently building about 1000 to 2000 miles of oil pipeline a year, cheering the halt to the Keystone pipeline is about as stupid as it gets. Whenever we need an additional pipeline or additional pipelines from Canada we’ll build them and like the thousands of miles of oil pipelines built in the last 5 years the eco-activists will be clueless.
So while it is political gloating for eco-fundamentalists, I mean eco-fascists, er I mean eco-activists, the truly concerning thing for me is that 25% of the nation actually thinks this will reduce the temperature of the earth. That is what is scary. And this ain’t even the people who believe in Noah’s ark.
So, they figure trucking it in will be better?
Inevitable logic and economics will prevail eventually…
Back in January CNN did a poll that said Americans favored the Keystone pipeline by a margin of 2 to 1, 57% in favor and 28% opposed (15% didn’t have an opinion). But, he’s not accountable anymore in terms of re-election so he can do whatever he wants I guess.
Amen, Craig. The controversy over Keystone is among the most bogus ever fabricated by today’s self-styled progressives. To say nothing of nothing of the lunacy of demonizing an infrastructure projects, the pipeline was obviously in the national interest on economic and foreign policy grounds. The only issue was it’s potential environmental impacts, and State’s environmental reviews repeatedly concluded that if permission to build were denied, the oil would still flow south, it would just get here by other routes, chiefly rail, that would have more oil spills, more fatal accidents, and emit more CO2 per barrel delivered. For the details, seehttp://www.globalwarming.org/2014/11/17/no-brainer-senate-should-approve-keystone-xl/
The dead parrot that was the Keystone XL pipeline and why Obama killed it
For many reasons, Keystone became of symbol of everything that was wrong on the environment front
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/keystone-obama-neil-macdonald-1.3308385
Front Page Magazine, Feb.21, 2012
‘How The Rockefeller Fund Killed Keystone’
Follow the money. This article was written more than three years ago.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/123248/how-rockefeller-fund-killed-keystone-jacob-laksin
Another piece of irony:the Rockefeller Fund exists because old John D. used pipelines to break Vanderbilt’s railway monopoly!!!
The enviros will try to spin this as a win but fact is the Canadian companies have already figured out how to get it to the east coast and ship it to India for refining.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-08/keystone-be-darned-canada-finds-oil-route-around-obama
So it will get burnt either way. Pity that the extra CO2 won’t prevent the resumption of glaciation but at least we’ll have good crops until then.
I believe (among other reasons) Obama killed Keystone as it will be a keystone of his positioning the US as the Gloal Environmental leader at COP21. (He’s looking for his “legacy”.) Plus,this lets the railways owned by his friend Mr. Buffet continue shipping oil on the trains of “liquid death” (to steal a phrase, tongue firmly in cheek).
A number of rail loading facilities have been built and more are planned in Canada to ship oil by rail. Let the wheels roll.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/15/us-crude-rail-exxon-mobil-idUSKBN0KO1W620150115
Many references to other terminals here:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=huge+oil+rail+terminal+in+edmonton&t=ffab
Another day there will be a different President and a different Prime Minister and the US will slow down importing oil from Venezuela, Nigeria, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia and ISIS by Ship and buy North American.
It’ll be alright in the end; and if it’s not alright, it’s not the end.
Obama’s gift to OPEC
As an Albertan i would say that the real damage was already done, largely through the delay, after delay, after delay. The pipeline was originally targeted for completion in what, 2011?
Oil producers missed out on the price boom which has come and gone.
For what it’s worth I don’t think anyone has done more to revive the legacy of George W. Bush than Mr. Obama.
Warren Buffet probably added another $10 Million to Obama’s Panama bank account. That dude makes billions shipping crude by rail.
Not unexpected, the whole idea is to create false scarcity, cartels, concentration of wealth. There’s a good zerohedge article on how cap and trade is a scam that requires the suppression of ‘deniers’.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-05/it-begins-new-york-attorney-general-cracks-down-exxon-over-climate-crimes-global-war
http://www.lemonde.fr/energies/article/2015/11/06/keystone-barack-obama-enterre-un-symbole-du-rechauffement-climatique_4804937_1653054.html
but this is not the most important problem –
There was an article in one of the UK papers recently that I could not quite understand but it seems apposite to this post if abandoning Keystone means more oil is carried by rail.
The article spoke of a TIH (Toxic Inhalation Hazard ) directive which meant that unless the freight companies upgraded the rail cars, and that has not happened yet, the transport of such materials (including oil?) would cease nationwide on 31Dec 2015.
That seems implausible , so was the article incorrect or did I completely misunderstand it?
No, transportation will not cease but there are new regulations for rail tanker cars that go into effect.
http://www.bdlaw.com/news-1626.html
U.S. Department of Transportation, May 8, 2015
P.26719: Crude Oil Transport by Rail
http://gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-05-08/pdf/2015-10670.pdf
Barbara thank you for enlightening me . I can understand the journalist having some difficulty reducing the info in the Federal Register into just a couple of paragraphs . The proposals seem very sensible, and, given the statistics in the report on the increase in hazardous material being sent by rail since the end of the recession, timely and necessary legislation.
The Saudi King must think all his virgins have arrived early.
What a wonderful gift to the Saudis from Oh Bummer.
What a right royal jerk.
Donald Trump et al must be doing their calculations right now as to whether this is a massive own goal by the Democratic President soon to be leaving office….
If it is, they will make hay promising to reverse the decision in January 2017 by Presidential Decree………
“Tens of thousands of jobs” on a pipeline that will be maintained by 400 people. Right.
You don’t know much about this stuff, do you?
Care to enlighten us ?
prjindigo November 7, 2015 at 3:25 am
“Tens of thousands of jobs” on a pipeline that will be maintained by 400 people. Right.
Are large buildings, once they are built, maintained by thousands of people. Construction jobs are almost by definition not long term.
Stupid as always, but it does give the railroads more business. I see “unit trains” now, made of nothing but (often brand new) tank cars. They move south — I assume from the northern plains/Canada.
Almost daily I walk for a few miles in a wonderful stretch of national park along the Chattahoochee River. Directly under my feet runs a pipeline which daily carries about 100 million gallons of refined petroleum products to New York. In perfect silence. With zero dust, soot, or VOCs. This stretch of parkland only exists because of the pipeline right-of-way. Nearby the pipeline continues in the yards of million dollar homes.
Now imagine what this area would be like if 30+ miles of loaded cars passed by each day (one mile-long train every 45 minutes) and a similar number of empties returned on this route. This is what the “greens” would have wanted and our president would have willingly served their cause. Luckily he was about 4 years old when this pipeline was built and was unable to obstruct the pipeline at that time.
This was purely a symbolic win for the greenie eco-fscist oil-haters, but we shouldn’t underestimate the power of symbolism for them. Since all of their arguments are pseudoscientific emotionalism, symbolism is an important part of their toolkit.
The last sentence “At the White House sound understanding of science, energy and the environment have left the building.” is incorrect.
At the White House sound understanding has left the building.
You are narrowing it down too much. And I would concede that there is a very strong case for it never arriving when Obama took over in all that fanfare. Pretty much mirrors the hope here that Blair would achieve something good but we soon realised the truth and have been paying the price ever since. Even now his younger ‘brother’ is in charge.
So Canada’s best friend and trading partner the USA, has turned into a back stabbing gitts (“Giving In To The Sphincter”)
Is there any foreign relations that Obummr hasn’t screwed up ?
The right decision for the wrong reason. The 350 day trial of the commercial 1 MW thermal LENR plant has running well for eight months. Official results due Feb/Mar 2016
On other news, President Obama has also stopped sea levels from rising.
Andrew
Andrew,
Wonderful news!
So Obama the Great has achieved what Canute the Great, King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden, failed to do, and controlled the tides.
Canute – of course – was intent on proving to his lick-spittles that he was human.
Obama – like me a Nobel Laureate, and I’m not sure why in either case; although I suppose I was a citizen of the EU at the relevant time . . . . – may have his godhood in mind.
I guess abolishing eclipses, or the precession of the equinox, will also be accomplished before the witching hour in 2017.
If Obama is granted extra time, will be halt the expansion of the universe?
[Mods/ the above can be considered as (ever-so-slightly) /Sarc. Just saying.]
Auto astounded at the powers of the present – pre-eminent – Potus.
Hard to believe some liberals fell for this scam !!! A utility company claims if you voluntarily agree to pay extra every month , they will only send ” GREEN ” electrons to your home !!!! Seriously !!!
http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/31483448:WKEyJ8yNG:m:1:752120182:7241D5BDF8C67F8B85BE6E3F6B9A3D92:r
Obama Explains Why He “Rejected” Keystone XL Pipeline Days After Transcanada Withdraws Application.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-06/obama-rejects-keystone-xl-pipeline-days-after-transcanada-withdraws-application