In a press conference on Friday, White House press secretary Jay Carney responded to the recent new Keystone pipeline bill passed by Congress earlier this week, as the Washington Examiner reports:
“It would be preemptively sacrificing American sovereignty” to approve the pipeline, White Hosue [sic] Press Secretary Jay Carney said, because a route for the northern portion of the pipeline has not been established.
“The United States Congress — a very important body, takes American security and sovereignty very seriously, or should — is saying that we will, in advance — blind-approve a proposal for a pipeline, a proposal for which does not exist,” he also said.
The Keystone XL pipeline has undergone 3 years of review, but the State Department refused to grant a permit after pressure from environmentalists demanding the route through Nebraska be changed.
The bill passed through Congress earlier this week with a veto-proof majority that included 69 Democrats voting for the newest measure. The latest route running through Nebraska has already been approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor in that state.
Beyond the fact that President Obama is at odds with many House members in his own party, Carney’s charge is ludicrous. The northern portion has not been established, because the State Department is requiring a completely new review process for the proposed new route. Additionally, aligning with an ally like Canada would not “sacrifice American sovereignty” as Carney claims.
What sacrifices American sovereignty is when our nation is beholden to unstable nations for our energy rather than aligning with allies and developing our own natural resources. For example, the oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), if it is tapped, could produced a million barrels of oil a day–enough to replace what we import from Iraq.
Additionally, by not developing our natural resources here in America and not taking advantage of resources from our allies, President Obama is leaving us at the mercy of dictator led nations like Venezuela and unstable regions like the Middle East. Three of the top ten oil importing nations–Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia– transport their oil through the Strait of Hormuz (through which 20% of the world’s oil is routed ). Iran has threatened to block off this waterway in response to sanctions placed on the country.
Were this to happen, oil prices would subsequently increase–a problem that would be mitigated if a stable supply were readily available in the market–such as sources like ANWR and the Keystone pipeline.
America’s sovereignty has also been sacrificed to the god of government largesse. It isn’t sacrificed when Congress paves the way for a symbiotic agreement with an ally to provide energy security and jobs. During his tenure, President Obama has added $5 trillion to the national debt in just over three years–more than President Bush added in eight. $5.1 trillion of America’s debt–nearly 1/3 of our total debt– is in the hands of foreign countries; over a trillion dollars is held by China alone. That’s roughly $3500 that each American owes to China. Yet, Jay Carney feigns concern about America’s sovereignty over an abundant source of energy from an ally, but seems to have little to no concern about the fact that the nation is grossly indebted to foreign countries.
Additionally, as has been pointed out by Governor Sarah Palin on numerous occasions, including in a recent essay, there is a link between energy independence, the debt, and the value of the dollar:
Obama doesn’t understand this [the link between national security and energy independence]–just as he doesn’t understand the dangers of his wasteful spending. Our energy policy is also linked with our fiscal and monetary policies. In light of America’s unsustainable $16 trillion debt, there’s more talk about dumping the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency, which is the currency used to buy and sell oil. If that happens, we’ll feel the pain of inflation everywhere–especially at the pump. That, in turn, will trickle down to everything in our economy. Those living on fixed incomes and retirement pensions and annuities will feel the pain especially hard. So, this is one more reason to get government debt under control with sound monetary policy that doesn’t try to “inflate away” our debt with currency manipulation and gimmicks like quantitative easing.
How an administration acts in those three policy areas–energy, fiscal, and monetary– will determine whether or not they strengthen or weaken America’s sovereignty. This administration’s poor fiscal management–deficit spending leading to even more massive debt and two rounds of quantitative easing that have devalued the dollar–along with continued dependence on unstable regions for energy–has caused a complete capitulation of national sovereignty. Contrary to what Mr. Carney says, aligning with an ally to achieve a mutually beneficial goal is not surrender of American sovereignty. This administration’s continuance down a destructive path of failed policies, however, is nothing but a white flag.
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