Obama Kills Pipeline, China Jumps In To Buy Canada’s Oil

January 21, 2012

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Years of planning, studies and promotion were flushed down the drain Wednesday when Barack Obama announced he would not approve of the Keystone XL pipeline that would have brought Alberta oil down from Canada to the Gulf Coast where it would be refined for use in America and exported to South American countries.

In plain simple words, Obama killed thousands of jobs at a time American workers are struggling to make ends meet, many still suffering from unemployment or underemployment. Not only were much needed jobs killed, our energy security is greatly hampered now, keeping us dependent on oil from the volatile middle east.

Outrage and opposition was nearly immediate as shown by ARRA News Service in Arkansas with the article, Newspapers, Dems, Labor Unions Blast Obama for Nixing Keystone Pipeline . Yes, even those considered to be Obama’s base are upset over such a ridiculous job killing decision at this time of deep and ongoing economic struggles.

As can be expected, even after three years of the permitting process, Obama laid all blame for his decision at the feet of the Republicans saying he “was not acting on the merits of TransCanada Corp.’s plan, but instead was forced to make the decision based on the ‘arbitrary’ deadline mandated by GOP provisions in December’s payroll tax cut extension deal.”

In a prepared statement he said, “As the State Department made clear last month, the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment.”

Apparently ignored by Obama is that TransCanada has gone well beyond safety requirements with state of the art measures and the implementation of some 57 safety measures not even called for.

Mark Green of the American Petroleum Institute reminds us that back in 2009, it was Barack Obama’s State Department who put forth the best argument in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline when it was stated, “… the addition of crude oil pipeline capacity between Canada and the United States will advance a number of strategic interests of the United States. These included increasing the diversity of available supplies among the United States’ worldwide crude oil sources in a time of considerable political tension in other major oil producing countries and regions; shortening the transportation pathway for crude oil supplies; and increasing crude oil supplies from a major non-Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries producer.

Canada is a stable and reliable ally and trading partner of the United States, with which we have free trade agreements which augment the security of this energy supply. Approval of the permit sends a positive economic signal, in a difficult economic period, about the future reliability and availability of a portion of United States’ energy imports, and in the immediate term, this shovel-ready project will provide construction jobs for workers in the United States.”

Of course, that glowing comment was given upon approval of the Alberta Clipper pipeline, but 2009 wasn’t an election year where Obama has to cater to the far left in hopes of being reelected.

As was brought out a few months ago, as wacko environmentalists continued to raise opposition to the creation of good paying private sector jobs that would be created with the Keystone XL project, China has been ready to step in and buy Canada’s oil sands oil, further undermining America’s energy security and growing their hold on the world’s oil supply.

With Obama’s rejection of the project, Canada is prepared to do business with China, growing Canada’s economy and providing Canadians with jobs denied American workers.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute has put together a group called Resourceful Earth.org that is not taking this lying down and are urging struggling taxpayers to help push back with a petition and assisting in other actions.

Resourceful Earth states, “The Obama Administration had until February 21 to look at the facts and make an educated decision on the Keystone XL project, but instead, he chose to jump-the-gun and have the State Department announce it will kill the permits necessary for work to get started on the pipeline.”

“This is a blatant political decision that postpones Obama having to make a real decision on the approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline until after his re-election campaign, putting his own job ahead of the creation of American jobs and economic improvement.”

As brought out in an earlier post, another move this election year is Vote 4 Energy.

They are joined by Energy Citizens and Ethical Oil.org, a Canadian group supporting America and Canada continuing our long partnership in trading.

They have penned an article, “Obama’s cynical pipeline politics” that begins with “When Barack Obama was running for president of the United States, he made a bold promise. “If I’m president, I’m immediately going to direct the full resources of the federal government, and the full energy of the private sector, to a single overarching goal,” he said. “In 10 years time, we are going to eliminate the need for oil from the entire Middle East and Venezuela.”

President Obama has had four years to make good on that promise. He’s not even close. And his decision Wednesday to deny permission for a new pipeline that would replace oil from those OPEC countries with Canadian oil, indicates that he didn’t actually mean what he said. As the famed American energy investor T. Boone Pickens put it after the White House announced its veto on the Keystone XL pipeline, “We can kiss another chance at energy security goodbye. We must really like OPEC oil.”

Read the rest here.

As we continue to struggle in this recession, one of the longest lasting economic downturns in our history, we cannot afford to allow such irresponsible decisions by a politician to stand. We must push back and demand our lawmakers and elected leaders make decisions that improve our economy and get America’s workers back to work.

Empty and hollow promises won’t do. Pouring Billions of dollars into expensive, unreliable and inefficient “alternative” energy sources to must receive an influx of scarce tax dollars to operate must cease.

We need energy, we need revenues and above all, we need the jobs these projects provide.

I don’t know exactly whose side Barack Obama is on, but it is getting clearer every day that he is not on the side of struggling middle class taxpayers.

Tell ’em where you saw it. Http://www.victoriataft.com