Obama rejects Canadian Pipeline

[Nate Dogg]

I didn't hear about this Obama issue until today - He rejects the "Keystone Pipeline."

Obama said he rejected the permit application now based on the State Department's recommendation, which concluded there wasn't enough time to vet alternate pipeline routes.
Obama was putting politics ahead of jobs and the nation's energy security by rejecting the pipeline now, Republicans and oil industry leaders said. The president faced fierce pressure from environmentalists who said they would be less likely to campaign for him in November if he didn't block the project to move carbon-heavy oil from the tar sands of northwest Canada.

My gut feeling on this topic is that obama is worried about the environmental issue and not the factor that the US is in a recession still and that gas is over $3 a gallon nationwide. If there was a pipeline built there would be more crude oil being manufactured and the price of gasoline would go down some and americans would be able to spend, boosting the economy. USA is so worried about our ties with OPEC and its obvious that the government won't budge. We just moved out of Iraq and then Kuwait earlier. I dislike this recent move by the president as he needs to help out the US economy and stop restricting it.

 

[barfo]

I didn't hear about this Obama issue until today - He rejects the "Keystone Pipeline."


My gut feeling on this topic is that obama is worried about the environmental issue and not the factor that the US is in a recession still and that gas is over $3 a gallon nationwide. If there was a pipeline built there would be more crude oil being manufactured and the price of gasoline would go down some and americans would be able to spend, boosting the economy. USA is so worried about our ties with OPEC and its obvious that the government won't budge. We just moved out of Iraq and then Kuwait earlier. I dislike this recent move by the president as he needs to help out the US economy and stop restricting it.

No, the price of gasoline would not necessarily go down. Keystone XL would transmit 510,000 barrels per day. The world consumes 82 million barrels per day. Keystone would thus be a tiny change in the overall supply. In addition, there is no guarantee that the overall supply would grow - other producers might cut back in order to maintain the current price point. Finally, there has been a significant disconnect between global oil events and the price of gasoline in the USA - events that restrict the supply of oil drive gas prices higher, but events that increase the supply of gas do not drive gas prices lower.

There may be reasons to build the pipeline, but gas prices are not among them.

barfo

 

[Nate Dogg]

Well, at least the pipeline would create 4000-4500 jobs temporary. Sounds like Obama is not creating jobs like what I remember Clinton doing. Clinton at least seemed concerned with the job issue and Obama is avoiding it and not giving people encouragement.

 

[Nate Dogg]

I don't want to vote for Obama again as he has failed in so many categories.

 

[barfo]

Well, at least the pipeline would create 4000-4500 jobs temporary. Sounds like Obama is not creating jobs like what I remember Clinton doing. Clinton at least seemed concerned with the job issue and Obama is avoiding it and not giving people encouragement.

Yes, building the pipeline will create some temporary jobs.

Then again, 9/11 created some temporary jobs cleaning up around the WTC.

barfo

 

[Nate Dogg]

Obama's three years in office have been defined by the partisan politics he sought to change. In years one and two, his Democrats rammed through $825 billion in economic stimulus and overhauled the nation's health care system and its financial regulations. In year three, Republicans blocked his $447 billion jobs bill, and political conflict nearly forced a government shutdown and national default.

Along the way, Obama has been forced to compromise on some goals and delay others, disappointing his political base without winning over his opponents. He turned from stimulating the economy to focusing on budget deficits. He ditched a "public option" that would have expanded government-run health care. He abandoned efforts to establish "cap-and-trade" emissions controls. He failed to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba.
...
That's a sore spot for those who say the $15.2 trillion debt is the major domestic and foreign threat facing the nation. Obama came into office vowing to halve the annual budget deficit in his first term, but that won't happen unless taxes are allowed to rise on the wealthy — something he couldn't make happen last year.

Second quote from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washin...e-years-goals/52694942/1?loc=interstitialskip

 

[jlprk]

The quote in Post #1 says Obama played politics, but it was the Republicans playing politics who caused this. Most of Congress was against the 60-day deadline. Republicans representing oil states added it as a rider to the payroll tax cut. Obama signed the tax cut and then made the decision required by the rider. He will make his true decision later after a thorough review.

in November, 2011, President Obama postponed the decision until 2013. On November 30, Senate Republicans introduced legislation aimed at forcing the Obama administration to approve the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days, unless the president declares the project is not in the national interest.[2]

On November 30, 2011, a group of leading Republican senators introduced legislation aimed at forcing the Obama administration to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days.[2] On December 13, 2011, the Republicans attached this provision on a bill that also would extend the payroll tax cut set to expire at the end of the year, despite Obama threatening to veto it.[27] In December 2011, Congress voted to give the Obama Administration a 60-day deadline to make a decision on TransCanada's application for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.[28] On January 18, 2012, President Obama rejected the application, stating that the deadline for the decision had "prevented a full assessment of the pipeline's impact."[29]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline

 

[jlprk]

The quote in Post #6 is a laundry list of complaints by liberals against Obama, for being too conservative. Conservatives then decorate this list as if it's ammo for their side, because they know their side is full of idiots who will fall for it.

Finally, there has been a significant disconnect between global oil events and the price of gasoline in the USA - events that restrict the supply of oil drive gas prices higher, but events that increase the supply of gas do not drive gas prices lower.

Gasoline prices are determined by speculators in investment markets, not by supply and demand. Gas prices can be easily manipulated right before an election to put voters into a bad or good mood.

 

[Denny Crane]

Postponing the decision until 2013 IS politics. He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't on the issue. He'll piss off his loony environmental base if he approves it, and he'll piss off his loony union base if he rejects it.

Having to decide in 2013 means he can pick which of his base to go against without having to worry about a dip in campaign donations or losing some votes in the election.

And his statements about "vetting for environmental impact" are lies. Only an idiot would fall for it.

 

[Denny Crane]

One more thing. While it may not affect the price of gas, it will make us a wee bit less dependent on the arabs' oil.

 

[Eastoff]

The US dependence on oil is the lowest it's been in a decade or so. We're under 50%. Additionally we have the most oil rigs going since I believe the 1950s.

 

[STOMP]

Well, at least the pipeline would create 4000-4500 jobs temporary. Sounds like Obama is not creating jobs like what I remember Clinton doing. Clinton at least seemed concerned with the job issue and Obama is avoiding it and not giving people encouragement.

make that 500-1400 temporary jobs. Is that really worth endangering the Ogallala Reservoir which is the primary water source of 6 states? They haven't even submitted the route which their pipeline would take. Obama is supposed to rubber stamp this dangerous project without even a plan in place? What about states rights?

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globallaborinstitute/research/upload/GLI_KeystoneXL_Reportpdf.pdf

One more thing. While it may not affect the price of gas, it will make us a wee bit less dependent on the arabs' oil.

no it wouldn't. This would not be our oil. It would be sold on the open market where we could buy it like everyone else.

The US dependence on oil is the lowest it's been in a decade or so. We're under 50%. Additionally we have the most oil rigs going since I believe the 1950s.

yup... in particular South Dakota is experiencing an oil boom

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QFL9MG2.htm

STOMP