Posted on 11/11/2011 6:45:54 PM PST by Clive
OTTAWA -- The Americans gave the cold shoulder to an offer of a steady supply of Alberta crude, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper will get plenty of face time with potential energy buyers this weekend in Hawaii.
And Harper could use the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit to ask President Barack Obama why he is stalling on the Keystone pipeline -- a project Harper once said was a "no-brainer" because of the number of jobs it would create on both sides of the border.
The postponement of a decision on the $7-billion pipeline to Texas from Alberta until after next year's presidential election is being used by pro-oil Republicans to bash Obama as a job killer during tough economic times.
"More than 20,000 American jobs have just been sacrificed in the name of political expediency," House Speaker John Boehner said after a review was ordered of a new route in Nebraska away from an aquifer.
In Canada, the delay is causing some headaches for Alberta Premier Alison Redford. Her opponents accuse her of standing on the sidelines while Keystone was unravelling in Washington.
"Our own premier...has been missing in action," Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said Friday. "Others have made this their top priority and our premier has not even been on the radar screen."
Environmentalists have been sniping at Obama for months to veto the project or he would lose their support and cash, arguing the oilsands produces unacceptable levels of greenhouse gases and a pipeline rupture would harm sensitive areas.
That flies in the face of environmental reviews that approved the project.
Republicans point to the safety record of pipelines south of the border, which Americans have become dependent on to feed their thirst for energy.
Republicans are framing Obama's dithering as pandering to a pro-environment base -- some with pockets deep enough to fund his re-election campaign.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he hopes the delay won't "doom" the project.
"It may mean that we may have to move quickly to ensure that we can export our oil to Asia through British Columbia," he told Bloomberg News from Hawaii.
Flaherty was referring to pipelines being proposed to the West Coast.
Anyone who pays attention will notice there aren’t any issues in this election. The MSM will never focus on real issues in this campaign.
Why does ANYONE need to ask Obama why he is delaying saying ANYTHING about the pipeline prior to November of next year???
Get real.
Send the oil (via pipeline) to Montana where it can be refined on the north side of the Yellowstone and avoid Nebraska altogether.
More jobs killed under the obamessiah! More dependence on Muslim oil to support those who would kill us if they had half a chance.
Thank God for our veterans and active duty!!!
More jobs killed under the obamessiah! More dependence on Muslim oil to support those who would kill us if they had half a chance.
Thank God for our veterans and active duty!!!
“..Anyone who pays attention will notice there aren’t any issues in this election...”
:::::::
At least on the DemocRAT platform. Lots of talk on the Repub side. Forget the MSM. They will print/say nothing that is not fed to them by the regime. True or not, matters not. The Repub candidate needs to stand toe-to-toe with Obama and attack Obamacare. That will do it — get the lies flowing and show them to be lies.
Obama makes me sick. But he’s focused like a laser on jobs.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he hopes the delay won't "doom" the project."It may mean that we may have to move quickly to ensure that we can export our oil to Asia through British Columbia," he told Bloomberg News from Hawaii.
Flaherty was referring to pipelines being proposed to the West Coast.
China is already investing in Canadian companies exploiting the oil sands.
Pending the construction of a pipeline to the British Columbia port of Kitimat (Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipelines Project), CN Rail and CP Rail have a system for transporting crude oil by unit train to anywhere that trains can go, including ports on the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Hudson's Bay or the Great Lakes.
See this article:
What a lame response. Is this the best this cheesey asshole can do? How about "Today Barack Obama stabbed 20,000 working families in the back by crushing their chances to have high-paying American jobs, and killing our efforts to increase our oil independence."
“...Obama makes me sick. But he’s focused like a laser on jobs...”
:::::::
Huh? No, he is focused on raising taxes and spending more money we don’t have, like he has already done...and laundering as much of it as he can for his own uses. Jobs? What jobs? He destroys jobs (by the millions) —— maybe more green scam operations? No, that did not work either.
What is next??
It is time to IMPEACH the Coward-in-Chief Obama.
Sorry, that was sarcasm.
Not really: There could be two reasons.
One to get the Enviro-whacko vote
The other ———To continue to destroy American economy as he has been doing for the last 3 years.
Then...how do you get it to market?
Refineries require pipelines to get crude oil in...and other pipelines to get refined product out. The capacity of the Keystone XL was to be in excess of 600,000 bpd -- meaning you'd need a refinery capable of handling 600,000 bpd...and shipping 600,000 bpd.
There is not a sufficient web of refined product pipelines emanating from the four existing (smallish) refineries in Montana.
Build additional product pipeline, but don’t call it XL.
Why not a pipeline from Americas oil sands and oil shale to Texas?.. not to speak of the Baaken fields....
“..One to get the Enviro-whacko vote...”
::::::::::
Exactly. His base is split on this and he knows it. Part is the “whackos that don’t have a clue” and the other part are the ones that have wised up to his “destroy American strength” agenda and do not like it. He is trying to play the votes of both groups.
Not fooling anyone and he continues to nose-dive in the polls. Too bad America has to pay such a price to get rid of this Marxist disaster.
"Sounds like Harper should very publicly announce a fast track study of routes to for transportation to the Canadian West coast. He might also engage in public talks at APEC with potential customers and make sure that is reported in the US media."As we see from the article, Harper is en route to the APEC summit in which Alberta oil will no doubt be discussed with Pacific Rim countries and the issue of the pipeline will no doubt be raised with Obama.
Also, from the article, we can see Finance Minister Flaherty making public noises about expediting the development of capabilities to ship oil to Asia through British Columbia ports.
See also my Reply 10 above which mentions Canadian rail companies pushing for shipment of crude oil by train. IMO this means that we can use trains to ship oil to Pacific ports while waiting for a pipeline to the Pacific to be built.
Also, Natural Resources Minister Oliver is in China advocating drumming up, among other things, increasing Chinese interest in Alberta oil
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.