Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline Project

COMMENTARY | President Obama has once more closed down an opportunity for national energy independence. He rejected the application for the Keystone XL Pipeline project.

Keystone XL is a proposed pipeline that would carry crude oil from Canada’s tar sands deposits to Texas for refining. A Canadian company, TransCanada, proposed the $7 billion project, as it would cover 1,700 miles across U.S. soil and encounter environmental concerns. TransCanada would build and operate the pipeline but needs U.S. approval to do so.

But Obama didn’t reject the project on environmental terms. Environmental agencies were not even involved. The rejection comes as the second of two refusals based more on election-year politics. Congressional Republicans had set a Feb. 21 deadline for the President’s review. Not wanting to be rushed, Obama simply rejected the application, preferring to put the whole issue past the election. Such a decision flies in the face of Obama’s supposed commitment to national energy security and independence.

Besides putting his re-election first, Obama’s shutdown of the pipeline application shuts down opportunities for American jobs. In the mid-America states from North Dakota south to Texas, construction and manufacturing jobs by the thousands would be created. TransCanada estimates 20,000 high-paying industrial positions. Such large scale infrastructure improvements were once proclaimed as favored by Obama, in an America profoundly hurting for jobs. That pronouncement disappeared with his rejection slip on the Keystone project.

The Keystone pipeline would have reduced dependence on foreign oil, with crude supply coming from America’s nearest friendly neighbor. It would have reduced exposure to global disruptions in crude deliveries to refineries. It would have shortened the shipping distance of crude from across the seas. These all have substantial cost-saving and energy security benefits for America. But once again, Obama has put himself before America.

Some have called Obama’s decision “an act of insanity.” Whether or not it comes from a personal disability, the decision disables America yet a little bit more. Whether or not one agrees with what to call it or the decision itself, one thing is clear: Obama has acted in his own self-interest, rather than in the interest of America.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *