They’re not as stupid as Obama thinks.
We reported yesterday that Obama would make Hillary take the hit for approving the Keystone tar sands pipeline.
The greens are on to the dodge, however.
Anti-Keystone campaigner Bill McKibben told Politico,
Last week in Denver, the president reiterated his involvement in this decision, saying, ‘No decision’s been made and I know your deep concern about it, so we will address it.’ Now he wants us to believe that he’s delegating a decision that’s turned into a political flashpoint to the State Department? We’ve known from the very beginning that this decision would be made in the Oval Office — not at State, not at the EPA. It’s called a ‘Presidential Permit,’ and across the country we’ll hold him responsible for this decision. It’s time to do the right thing, not pass the buck — passing the buck has gotten us in the mess we’re in.
But Obama can’t afford to block the Keystone pipeline. So it will be approved (by Hillary)— probably in some slipshod way — so that a court can get in the pipeline’s way. It’s all very predictable.
Keystone Pipeline (existing) versus bigger, better new Keystone XL Pipeline to be built to new standards and on a straight path.
The approval process would be minimum if the construction followed the existing pipelines with larger pipes. One for one replacement.
Canadian oil WILL be delivered to a hungry US market, so let’s make it the best of all bad options. Shipping it by train, truck barge or blimp would be considerably less green than by pipeline. And once a pipeline is built, demand high environmental and operational standards from the pipeline companies, with heavy penalties if they screw up.
Let’s get McKibben focussing on a real world solution.