Posted on 01/24/2013 10:42:06 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed off on TransCanada’s revised route through his state earlier this week, effectively clearing what the Obama administration has cited as a major hurdle to green-lighting the entire Keystone XL pipeline. Having already been through years of multiple State Department reviews, and with the southern portion of the project already under construction, it appears that bipartisan members Congress in fact can agree on at least one thing: The administration’s level of well-orchestrated stalling on this thing is starting to get downright ridiculous.
A letter signed by 53 senators said Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman’s approval of a revised route through his state puts the long-delayed project squarely in the president’s hands.
“We urge you to choose jobs, economic development and American energy security,” the letter said, adding that the pipeline “has gone through the most exhaustive environmental scrutiny of any pipeline” in U.S. history. The $7 billion project would carry oil from Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.
“There is no reason to deny or further delay this long-studied project,” said the letter, which was initiated by Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., and signed by 44 Republicans and nine Democrats. Another Democrat, Jon Tester of Montana, supports the pipeline but did not sign the letter.
Judging from the president’s second inaugural address, perhaps he’s forgotten that our economy is still weak and our unemployment rate is still awful, and that Americans are eagerly waiting for the type of productive, private-sector jobs that approving the pipeline would readily provide — but then again, he set himself up for this conundrum by banging the climate-change drum so hard during that same speech. The well-monied environmentalists will be quite happy to hold him to that, but it’s all too clear that this pipeline is what the people want:
PRESIDENT OBAMA rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline this time last year, a result that Canada had every reason to be dismayed by, as did Americans whom the project would have employed. The issue is coming back, and the president has even less reason to nix the project than he did last time.
After years of federal review, there was little question last year that construction of the pipeline, which would transport heavy, oil-like bitumen from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico coast, should proceed. Thousands of miles of pipeline already crisscross this country. An environmental analysis had concluded that the risks of adding this new stretch were low. An economic review had found that Canada would get its bitumen to the world market — if not via pipeline to the gulf, then very likely by ship to China. Supply would make it to demand, one way or another.
fyi
Must be Union jobs.
Union jobs, and frankly he’s gonna need the added revenue to grow the government as quickly as he plans to. Greenies are goin’ under da bus (probably at 4:45 PM on a Friday just before he leaves for an extended holiday vacation in Hawaii)
They have to get Warren Buffett’s approval first as he is raking in millions due to all this product being moved via railroads where he has significant investment and control.
In a Buffalo News article about pipeline vs rail transportation, they never mentioned Buffett’s ownership in railroads but peddled the lie that the pipeline was dangerous to the environment. Well shipping via rail has generated 37 times more spills than pipelines. Seems the enviro nazis lied to us once again. It is the only way to move the progressive agenda forward. Lie, lie, lie.
Now why did I mention the Buffalo News as the sorce? Well the Buffalo News is owned by Buffett.
I’m thinking this has something to do with a train and warren buffet.
No chance that NM’s two enviro-radical senators will sign on to this.
Meanwhile, the formerly dusty oil patch town of Hobbs is getting an economic makeover with jobs, new construction, businesses, hotels, apartments, etc. being built at an unheard of scale. This area of the state provides the lion’s share of state revenue but the enviro num-nuts in Santa Fe are busy trying to prohibit fracking if not drilling in northern NM counties.
Having a fat city bank account is something the city has not been used to but they are taking their time spending some of it and looking at infrastructure needs (e.g. a fourth fire station opened last fall) and planning for more water and sewer expansion.
One thing that has not changed is that, with a couple of exceptions, national chain restaurants have not built here (no Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc.), but local tortilla eateries are on on every corner.
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