Last week’s decision by the Obama Administration, under recommendation of the State Department, to deny the permit for the Transcanada Keystone XL pipeline has revealed definitively that our President and the entire administration embraces an ideology that knows no compromise.
The proposed 1700 mile pipeline would allow crude oil in Canada to be transported across several states to the coast of Texas, where it can be refined.
The pipeline project enjoys support from congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, union leaders, and the many Americans who had hoped to benefit from the project either directly or indirectly. The administration has made its decision in alliance with environmentalists and the green lobby. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been requested to testify before a House committee on the decision.
House Speaker John Boehner stated, “The Keystone Pipeline has been through three years [of study] and it’s passed every approval process as required by the law.” In his statement, President Obama affirmed that the decision was not based on its merits, but because he felt “rushed” to make a decision based on an arbitrary deadline set by Congressional Republicans. The GOP is determined to revive the pipeline project by attaching it to an extension of the two percent payroll tax cut legislation that affects over 160 million American workers.
Bill McKibben, noted environmentalist and head of 350.org, has lauded the decision to reject the permit, asserting “Assuming that what we’re hearing is true, this isn’t just the right call, it’s the brave call. The knock on Barack Obama from many quarters has been that he’s too conciliatory. …But here, in the face of a naked political threat from Big Oil to exact ‘huge political consequences,’ he’s stood up strong.” An earlier article covered McKibben’s visit to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida to encourage college students to “Occupy Washington” to protest the pipeline.
This decision will not end the project. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has expressed his “profound disappointment” with this decision from the Obama Administration. Harper stated previously of Canada’s intent to sell the oil to the Chinese if an agreement cannot be reached with the United States.
This administration has no difficulty taking taxpayer money to fund “green” energy projects despite strong indications of financial instability, as revealed in the Solyndra scandal which cost the taxpayers over half a billion dollars. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been investigating the circumstances of the loan, which had been structured to subordinate the taxpayers interests to the interests of private investors, which is a violation of the law.
Despite President Obama’s statements assuring us that his goal for this country is to increase jobs and to work towards becoming less reliant on energy from sources that oftentimes are less than friendly, the decision of last week belies his true intent.
President Obama has said no to new jobs and no to improving our energy security.
Prior to his election, Candidate Obama, in explaining his vision for the future of energy in America, stated that under his cap and trade plan “energy prices will necessarily skyrocket” and, “If someone wants to build a coal powered plant, they can, it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they will be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that is being emitted.”
Our dependence on foreign oil has become a threat to our national security. Even as 2011 saw the highest price per gallon of gas in history and the outlook for 2012 predicts still higher prices, the President remains steadfast in his quixotic vision of a brighter tomorrow where our all of our energy will be supplied by solar panels and wind turbines.
As America becomes enslaved by this increase in the cost of energy, the Administration is accomplishing its goal of capturing every last cent out of the economy in the name of environmental justice, to be distributed as it sees fit to bankroll the green agenda.
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