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Obama Says He'll Make the Final Decision on Keystone Oil Pipeline
President Obama strongly suggested Tuesday that he will make the final decision on whether the administration will approve the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
His remarks come a day after White House press secretary Jay Carney appeared to put some space between Obama and the controversial project by stating “This is a decision that will be made by the State Department.”
Now, it's very good to see the President taking full ownership of this decision and indicating that the environment will be the top priority going forward,” said Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org. (photo: Johannah Reimer / tarsandsaction)
But Obama, in an interview with a Nebraska TV station from the White House, indicated that the State Department – which is leading the federal review of TransCanada Corp.’s plan – would put the final decision in his hands.
“[State] will be giving me a report over the next several months and, you know, my general attitude is, what is best for the American people? What’s best for our economy both short-term and long-term? But also, what's best for the health of the American people?,” Obama told KETV’s Rob McCartney.
“Because we don’t want for example aquifers . . . adversely affected. Folks in Nebraska obviously would be directly impacted, and so we want to make sure we’re taking the long view on these issues,” Obama added.
Obama said he will weigh those concerns against energy security needs when recommendations cross his desk.
“We need to encourage domestic natural gas and oil production. We need to make sure that we have energy security and aren’t just relying on Middle East sources. But there’s a way of doing that and still making sure that the health and safety of the American people and folks in Nebraska are protected, and that’s how I’ll be measuring these recommendations when they come to me,” he said.
The proposed $7 billion pipeline would bring crude from Alberta's massive oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.
Business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute are lobbying in favor of the project, arguing it would create scores of jobs while improving energy security by expanding imports from a friendly neighbor. Canada is already the largest supplier of oil to the U.S.
TransCanada claims the pipeline would create 20,000 direct jobs and many more spinoff jobs and is emphasizing that it would operate under strict safety standards.
But environmental groups, which have called the jobs estimates inflated, oppose the pipeline due to greenhouse gas emissions, forest damage and other impacts from oil sands projects.
They also fear pipeline spills that could contaminate the Ogallala aquifer in Nebraska and other states along the route.
Environmental groups are planning a major demonstration at the White House on Nov. 6 to call on Obama to reject the project. Climate activist Bill McKibben, a key organizer of the protests, welcomed Obama’s comments.
“Only a day ago the President's press secretary said the State Department would make the call. Now, it's very good to see the President taking full ownership of this decision and indicating that the environment will be the top priority going forward,” said McKibben, the founder of 350.org.
Obama’s comment about State providing him with recommendations in the “over the next several months” also may signal that the timeline for a federal decision on the project is slipping. State has said it hoped to make a decision on the project by the end of this year.
But Reuters, citing an unnamed administration official, reported last week that the year-end target may slide.
The decision looms at a time when the sour economy is shaping up as the dominant issue in next year’s presidential election.
Asked in the interview if the potential for jobs from the project will affect his decision, Obama replied:
“You know it does, but I think folks in Nebraska like all across the country aren’t going to say to themselves, we’ll take a few thousand jobs if it means that our kids are potentially drinking water that would damage their health or if rich land that is so important to agriculture in Nebraska ends up being adversely affected, because those create jobs, and you know when somebody gets sick that’s a cost that the society has to bear as well. So these are all things that you have to take a look at when you make these decisions.”
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65 Comments so far
Show AllGive me a freakin break this corporate stooge Oilybomber, signed the first USA import license for Tar Sands a year ago. It's a done deal. It is extremely foolish and a waste of time and energy to petition the fascist executioner in chief, Occupy NOW! General strike NOW! Viva Greece! Viva Anonymous!
The majority of gasoline used in Minnesota has for some time been refined from tar sands oil, so President Obama could not have signed the "first USA import license" for this dirty stuff. If he decides against the pipeline to Texas, some believe that Canada will build a pipeline across the Rockies to Canada's west coast for export to, for instance, China. Which makes me wonder if export isn't the plan for any tar sands oil shipped to Texas. (Canada didn't used to elect premiers who are buddies with the Koch brothers, et al., but their current one is a real right-winger. The Koch brothers have changed the name of their South St. Paul refinery so the Koch name no longer appears. Their newly renamed company now sponsors an annual five-day fun-fest for kids in downtown St. Paul to maintain their generous home-town image.)
Bernice, You're missing the best part of all of this. TransCanada got the State Department to hear no evil, see no evil, and say no evil, and so the Transportation Department's Pipeline Hazardous Material Administration was not asked to study the possible dangers associated with DilBit crude, the crude that comes from the Canadian tar sands. This crude, however, isn't crude oil; this is a very dangerous oil slurry consisting of carcinogenic hydrocarbons and bitumen that can only be pushed through pipelines under 1440 psi and at 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Here's the best part: under this pressure, which is not uniform in the pipeline, this slurry is guaranteed to cavitate. These episodes of cavitation, in turn, are guaranteed to deform any guage pipeline metal and cause it to rupture all along the pipeline. Keystone 1 blew 12 times in its first year of operation. The Enbridge line in Michigan in 2010 dumped upwards of a million gallons of DilBit into the Kalamazoo River before the company even knew there was a rupture. DilBit crude is a ticking time bomb, guaranteed to introduce an apocalyptic new normal in the Midwest, which will consist of poisoned water, land, and food. This is how a nation state is gutted to become a market state.
Isn't it rich how corporation use our money to sponsor community projects under their names.
Canada is very disappointing as a country under Harper and the conservos.
I don't know how a pipeline bring oil to be refined in Texas to go on sale on the world markert, just like all the other oil produced in the world, improves our energy security.
Isn't it rich how corporation use our money to sponsor community projects under their names.
Canada is very disappointing as a country under Harper and the conservos.
I don't know how a pipeline bring oil to be refined in Texas to go on sale on the world markert, just like all the other oil produced in the world, improves our energy security.
Anyone using the term "it's a done deal" is doing the work of the oil companies. It is not a done deal. This is not to express any confidence in Obama, whatsoever. But things are turning in this country and this is the time to mobilize to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. The powerful are often forced to do things that they don't want to do. It's our job to make the Keystone pipeline one of those times.
Welcome to existentialist crisis: You fight to the death for a cause you know you're going to lose. Of course it's a done deal. Of course one should still fight it.
Give me a frackin' break. The decision has already been made, greased by a million or three dollars discretely deposited in his 2012 campaign war chest.He will stand before the American people with an agonized look on his face and with hands wringing he'll announce that we must move forward with this project. He'll comfort his flock with heart-felt platitudes that everything humanly possible will be done to protect the aquifers and environment and that we should all rest assured that he will make it his highest priority that this really really necessary project is done in a responsible way.
Obama - Worst President Ever.
Z-Man,
"Obama - Worst President Ever"
There are more than 40% Democrats. Progressive and Liberals still think Obama the lesser of the evils. Many here still say "I can't vote for the Repug, just can't.”
Disclaimer: I am no Repug and I can feel it in all over my body.
No one is compelled to vote republican or democrat in the US federal elections. Bernie Sanders, Lisa Murkowski, and (the worm) Joe Lieberman were all elected to the US senate without running with the Janus headed party, although Joe the Worm got support from Bill and his consort, the Witch of Westchester.
Any mention of "the lesser of the evils" in whatever context is horse shit. Anyone with any imagination and any sense of integrity and decency will vote other party or write in. No slight intended toward you sivasm.
richsmith2,
.... but, but, but....they may not compel you but assist you. In the upcoming SF mayoral race where a Democrat Edwin Lees was seen using templates to assist the elderly Chinese how to vote. BTW he is the incumbent Mayor of San Francisco and one of the sixteen candidates running.
I understand and appreciate your comment. :-)
"Any mention of "the lesser of the evils" in whatever context is horse shit. Anyone with any imagination and any sense of integrity and decency will vote other party or write in.."
No matter who you vote for, the Government gets in.
And the 'lesser of two evils' is still EVIL.
The false choice between the Republicans and the Democrats is like choosing to be murdered by Jack the Ripper or John Wayne Gacy. No matter who you choose, you still end up DEAD.
Third party or write-ins have no chance because they are not connected to the Corporate money machine, and even on the off chance they DO get in, are quickly co-opted or silenced by the same money machine.
He has extended and enhanced the entire Bush agenda. He sabotaged the health care movement. He sabotaged the climate bill and Copenhagen. Gitmo is still open and he's added Basra; done nothing about rendition and torture (don't even try to deny that). He has a hopeless record on civil rigthts and freedom. His economic "policies" are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Wall Street. The list is literally endless.That makes him one of the worst presidents ever.The lists of his so-called accomplishments that shills like Schultz, Maddow and Hartmann regurgatate on a daily basis would be laughable if they weren't so tragic. That there are still people out there that support this creep is beyond my understanding. His only positive accomplishment has been to prove that kool-aid comes in two colors - red and blue.When you factor in the monstrous physic damage he has done to this country -- the tramplinig of the actual hope that existed in 2008; when you include the fact that he is responsible for the Phoenix-like resurgence of an opposition that was dead and buried in 2008; when you consider how he ignores the stated demands of over 80% of the American people on issue after issue ... he is ...Obama - Worst President Ever.
Z-Man,
Are you still watching Schultz, Maddow and Hartmann? I stopped watching them before the 2008 erection (typo intended) :-)
Really? I get your point but you must never have even started watching Maddow because her show didn't get going until about a month before that election. Of course, Schultz got his after Obama was elected and Hartmann's only TV gig is on Link-TV or one of those non-MSM sites.No, I don't watch them anymore, but I know about the lists they ask their loyal listeners to use when us "Obama-Haters" bash his "accomplishments".
Z-Man,
She was a regular at MSNBC, so good promoting Obama that they hired her.
Yup, I remember. We've recently murdered our TV and haven't had cable for quite some time so I wouldn't be able to watch these folks even if I wanted to.But I've got to admit something. Although I was never, ever taken in by Obama I actually liked and respected Maddow and Hartmann (and Randy Rhodes, too). It has been a real despairing letdown to see them turn into such tools. I'm not surprised, having lived through many such disappointments. One huge one that comes to mind is the shutdown of rational discourse on 9/11 by nearly 100% of the left-wing gatekeepers, but that's another topic for a different time.Izzy Stone ... where are you when we really need you. I suppose there're still a few (Greenwald? Hedges? Scahill?)
Seymour Hersh belongs on your list. Like Izzy Stone, he is an investigative reporter. Greenwald and Hedges are reactive, not proactive.
sheepherder,
Seymour Hersh is really good. I really like him. however, missed him after I threw my TV away.
Free at last!
Z-Man you are absolutely right! Obama's record on civil liberties should scare the bejeezus out of everyone but the fascists. According to renowned civil liberties scholar, Professor Jonathan Turley:
"Barack Obama may stand as one of the single most devastating events in our history for civil liberties." Yes, worse than Bush.
In my opinion civil liberties are the sine qua non of our democracy.
After 2008, when the majority of Americans and the entire world celebrated Obama's election, he and the Democratic majority in Congress could have taken that political capital and passed any damn legislation they desired. They could have put this country on a road to recovery - politically, fiscally, morally, and environmentally. Instead, they continued on with the very same agenda, only worse in many cases. And now, it is REVEALED: NOT ONE SINGLE DEMOCRAT is willing to challenge Obama. They seem to be satisfied, in some perverse way, the status quo.
Bagram, not Basra -- but otherwise 100% spot on.
Thanks, corvo. When I went back in to re-read my post I saw that but couldn't do anything but slap my head. The editing feature was gone.
I guess I meant "psychic", not "physic", too. Getting too old for this.
We know that Obama and the whole of our corrupt Federal government will do what ever they can to please their financial 'contributors'. (people who give them bribes) Our situation as citizens of this nation have deteriorated due to the mind set of the "lesser of two evils". Yes, both major parties are evil. We all know that if we are in any way informed of the actions of our government to help the rich get richer while the working people suffer. Loyal Democrats must face the fact that the Democrats no longer give any concern for the people of this nation or for the health of the planet Earth. To vote for them is to harm yourself with your delusion, and worse yet, you will contribute to the end of all life on earth. Sound over stated? I wish it were, but so many things are going off the normal on earth and burning fossil fuels is a primary cause of the destruction of the eco systems of the earth.
We must not vote to keep any of the so called 'Representatives' we have now in Congress. THey vote for all the wars, to give trillions to the banksters on Wall St while the working people lose their jobs, health benefits, pensions and their homes.
Kick out the corrupt! Replace them with people with morals and ethics and a sense of compassion--that is, people who are not consumed with GREED.
Members of the Progressive and Black caucuses of the Democratic Party ARE on the right side of issues, but are usually ignored by the media, party leadership and the administration. They are fighters who should be re-elected, although I must agree that there are Dem representatives and senators (especially senators) who should be replaced.
bernice,
"Democrat"???
I am truly sorry, you may not be a "horse shit", but democrat really make me sick.
Uhh...not from what I've seen. From what I've seen, the "Black Caucus" are mostly millionaires who live among the poorest of the poor, fall in line behind President Drone Murder King, and have little to show for their "opposistion" despite some people being there for 20 to 30 years. Charles Rangel ALONE was engaged in cronyism so obvious, hiding away millions in kickbacks and bribes while the people around him starved, that his own party, the Democrats finally had to bust him. There's your big fancy Democrat heroes. There they are. You know what i say to that? To hell with them.
AlanWatts4Ever,
I really like the sly old fox Charles Range. He's such a good liar just like Obama. Ooops, I don't mean I LIKE him, but the way he lied.
'He will stand before the American people with an agonized look on his face ...'
This is EXACTLY the script obama will use. The man's complete lack of conscience, along with his oratorical skills, put him on par with the great propagandists of history.
Gotta love the ever-so-slightly folksy, workin' class, reg'lar folk rhetoric that Obama employs when discussing the topic.
What's best for the American people you say, Barack? What's best for a functioning ecosphere in two generations? What's best for not suffocating most life off the planet? Etc etc.
Unfortunately I don't have the flair for words like the Prez.
The words 'environment' and 'aquifers' will not be spoken. Instead, he will speak of jobs. Right?
You're spot on in this assessment! Obama, or his speech writer, is the quintessential BS'er. I've never heard such an eloquent, fluid orator deliver words that mean nothing. Sad to say but I will NEVER trust anything this president says as being rooted in truth or with the welfare of the 99% in mind again. He's the corporate/bankster king.
My question is whether the Obama Administration is dragging the process out in order to extend the time to get more campaign funds from parties involved. I believe this occurred when the health care legislation was being legislated because in the end,after so much time in debate, virtually all, if not all, the votes for the legislation was from Democrats.
I am extremely impressed that you drew (the correct IMO) that conclusion during the health care debate. I remember pointing out to people that the only reason a party which completely controlled all three branches of the damn government would allow something like "healthcare" to stall for months and months only if they wanted to arm-twist more money from big pharma, Big insurance and other scum.
Yes, and then, at the end, to invoke 'urgency' in passing the scummy bill ... only to have it become effective in 2014! It was only massive propaganda that kept otherwise rational people from rejecting this obvious piece of fraud.
Yes, dear God I remember that, only takes effect after 2014. So we can debate the whole damn thing, all OVER AGAIN. As if they need a few years to dream up more reasons not to talk about single payer. Takes that long to come up with 'slick' excuses.
Plus the fact that they are already giving many large corporations the chance to opt out.
It was a farce. All summer, the thugs ran their 'death panel' rants, scaring the sheep, without one Dem coming on to say what it really was.
That if you are faced with an end of life illness and want to talk with your doc about it, he gets paid.
How hard was that?
And in his efforts to make medical care even more business friendly as quickly as possible, obama just overturned the long-term care provision ('too costly, unsustainable'). So if you're seriously ill, or trying to pay for insurance to protect you if you get seriously ill, tough luck!
So invigorating to see OWS rejecting the entire political class
I will be shocked if Obama/Romney does not approve KOP. A real slick move would be to stall till after the election.
the decision is already made, he is just waiting till his speech writers come up with a speech so he can make it sound like he is doing it for America
in reality it is only harmful to america, and only helps corporations
Quite right. He'll couch it in Obamaisms, but the message will be full speed ahead.
"arguing it would create scores of jobs "
"Scores"??? Just how many jobs is that? Please, the last time I heard that was in the Gettysburg Address. I smell "obsfucation". Is it 20 is it 40 what is it oh all wise and powerful petroleum industry? Even Lincoln specified 4 score. I am sure you know exactly how many jobs will be needed and just who you plan to fill those jobs with. You've probably already filled them, knowing this is a sure thing.
Just in. Irish bookie is offering 10-1 odds that O will sign the pipeline deal. Now there's something you can bet on. (Source - Fox News) "Game over", as Dr. Hansen has put it.
Ill take those odds.... lets make a Gentleman's Bet.
I think those odds are good to bet that he won't approve the deal before the election next Nov.
Lets have a little fun for once... remember I was the fool who lost my old first kay guitar to Phil Ochs on the Kennedy/Nixon election in 60. I lost but it turned out great for Phil's song writing.
What the hell forget the odds, lets make it an even bet ...no approval before the election, after the election he might not be Prez so that is another bet.
Any Gentlemen and Ladies in the house? You don't even have to be Irish to beat me now.
I'll fade you bet.
Here's my play:
1) Obama makes noises that he won't immediately sign the KXL deal before the 'election', but OTR, it has already gone through.
2) Obama KNOWS that his base has deserted him, and he has little chance of being 'democratically elected' IF he is elected, it will be under just as black a cloud of suspicion as BOTH of Bush's terms.
3) If/when Obama loses, he will hand over power to the Rethugs so fast it'll make your head spin, and it will be revealed just how utterly corrupt Obama's Government really was.
4) In order to look manly and 'Commander-in-Chief-ish', Obama proves he is batshit insane by attacking Iran on a completely bullshit cassus belli. (Doing so would cut 2/3 of the oil coming from the ME, and in short order make the Greek debt crisis look like you lost your bus fare.)
OTR is not signing the bill.
Thanks for your gentlemanly support.
Don't hold your breath, people! Expecting Obama to suddenly turn around and head in a decent direction after all the crap that he's pulled since taking office is an exercise in futility, as far as I'm concerned.
Obama is a monster that feeds on blood and oil.
______________________________
Above all else the purpose of the economy is to provide basic human needs as well as the means of establishing, maintaining, and nurturing human relationships while dealing justly with future generations (sustainability) and ethically with all life on earth (ecological balance).
Kamran Mofid
Of course Obama will sign it, and say its to create "jobs" which it will of course. But at what cost? And he will say its to keep Canada from building the pipeline to the Pacific coast and shipping the oil to China which they would of course.
This is a no win situation. Let me quickly borrow a short but correct quote from above.
"Expecting Obama to suddenly turn around and head in a decent direction after all the crap that he's pulled since taking office is an exercise in futility, as far as I'm concerned."
Just more obfuscation from BO. He has already been told by the 1% what his final decision will be. This was a done deal a long time ago. I can write Obama's speech for him! It will be the same ol BS that we are going ahead because America needs the energy and we cannot rely on Middle Eastern oil Reserves for the future.
A lottery is being held behind closed doors, attended by big oil, big bank, big pharma, big agra, et al. Obama speaks.
"I am about to make a decision that will either doom much of the earth to contamination and many people to death, or I may make a decision to stop all of this and try to heal the earth and the nation.
"The decision is nearing, now what am I bid for yea or nay?"
Anyone care to make book on the outcome?