Perhaps the most telling number that emerged last week in the Keystone XL debate was that the Association of Oil Pipe Lines reported to the National Post in Toronto that the US has installed more than 12,000 miles of oil pipelines – the equivalent of 10 Keystone XLs – since 2010.
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This latest decision was often used as a symbol for all of Obama’s actions on the environment.
After Obama said he didn’t think the project was in the national interest, Republican politicians in South Dakota were quick to criticize him.
It’s impossible to view this administration as anything but a massive failure on energy, and the rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline is yet another nail in the coffin for North American energy development.
Environmentalists feared the project would increase greenhouse gas emissions and risked local environmental damage through potential leaks in the pipeline itself. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce joined in criticizing the President’s decision. Although Trudeau had supported the oil sands project, he has also pledged to take a stronger stand on climate change than Harper did.
Though opposed on environmental grounds by the White House, federal environmental reviews have found no reason to block the Keystone XL project. At times over the a year ago, oil prices have dipped to the point at which the oil production wouldn’t be worthwhile to the company even with the pipeline. We are now in a position where wind and solar can compete with fossil fuels.
About Green America Green America commends President Obama’s decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline, urges a cessation of new natural gas pipelines, and calls on the President to continue to exert the leadership required to move our nation towards a clean energy future.
As unfair as that may seem, at least with the Keystone XL kibosh it now provides opportunity to look to other ways of getting our oil to market. Moreover, it was an in situ facility – the type of tar sands project that was considered to be the most protected from low oil prices and transportation bottlenecks.
A sign in front of TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline facilities in Hardisty, Alberta, Canada. Obama hinted strongly that he never believed the economic benefits of the pipeline could offset the damage of compromising the U.S.as a global leader in the fight against climate change. The State Department’s analysis concluded that it would add only 35 permanent jobs, and the construction phase would create “several thousand temporary construction jobs” over a two-year period.
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In the end, the President chose politics over policy.
