The decision was bought and paid for by wealthy green ideologues and green energy rent-seekers, anxious to cash in on subsidies for solar panels, windmills, and other expensive projects that are guaranteed a positive return by taxpayer money. The author misses a big player on this list.
The Keystone XL project isn't being blocked by the Obama administration for environmental reasons. It's being blocked as part of an effort to effectively nationalize the U.S. oil resources by making it more difficult to export oil. This is why there's actually a huge glut of oil in North America, and why the last few years have seen a consistent lag in the price of West Texas Intermediate on the global oil markets compared to Brent Crude.
The "big player" I was referring to is the U.S. railroad industry, which has done a booming business moving oil in the absence of sufficient pipeline capacity. It's worth noting that Warren Buffett, a big Obama supported, is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway -- which owns the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad, one of the largest railroads in the United States.
Keystone will create North American oil independence by 2017. Middle Eastern and other offshore big oil interests like the Rockefellers and Saudi Princes see their market shrinking and are paranoid, while industrialists like Buffet stand to lose lucrative rail contracts. Millions are being channeled through various organizations like Tides Foundation, to fund anti-oil sands activities and propaganda...The delays have nothing to do with the environment, and everything to do with pandering to big democratic financial supporters. Crony capitalism at it's worst and and another blow to American exceptional ism.