Posted on 06/25/2013 2:09:51 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Keystone XL pipeline will not be built unless it can be shown that it will not lead to a net increase in carbon emissions, President Barack Obama declared in a major Tuesday speech on climate change at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. While appearing to appease environmentalists, the announcement could mean that the project will move forward.
"Allowing the Keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our national interest," he said. "And our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. The net effects of the pipeline's impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward."
If completed, the Keystone pipeline will carry oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the Gulf Coast. Environmental activists have urged Obama to kill the project, arguing that it will exacerbate climate change and could damage environmentally sensitive areas. Supporters of the pipeline have argued it will boost the economy by providing jobs for the construction of the pipeline and by lowering the costs of energy once the pipeline is complete.
While Obama's announcement came in an ostensibly pro-environmentalist speech, supporters of the pipeline are suggesting that Obama's caveat means the project will eventually move forward. They believe the evidence shows that the pipeline will not lead to a net increase in greenhouse gases. Indeed, the State Department has already released a draft study showing that the pipeline would not significantly add to greenhouse gas emissions.
"The standard the president set today should lead to speedy approval of the Keystone pipeline," Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), told The Hill. "Based on the lengthy review by the State Department, construction of the pipeline would not have a significant environmental impact. It's time to sign off on Keystone and put Americans to work."
Obama also announced plans to increase regulations on coal power plants and subsidize wind and solar power. The Environmental Protection Agency will finalize new rules for coal plants designed to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide the plant release into the air. Obama has set new deadlines for when these new rules should be in place.
America will "set a bold example" for the rest of the world on climate change, Obama added, and he will encourage developing nations to "join a global low-carbon economy" by helping them utilize non-carbon based fuel sources.
Frikkin SOB would be all for it if it warmed the White House.
Yes! And if they say "STOP!" just say "NO!" What are they going to do? Take them to court? Arrest them? Send in marshal's? Send in the FBI? Send in the military? Fir drones at them?
It would be interesting to see. But it won't happen.
I would really like all liberals to STFU on this subject until after the last Dem voter in the NE US is converted from burning oil to burning natural gas/propane in their homes.
Liberals contribute to global warming every winter much more than the pipeline ever will.
I said this back in March.
The Keystone XL pipeline gets the Senates endorsement
March 24, 2013, 9:18:25 PM CDT · 20 of 21
Orange1998 to Ernest_at_the_Beach
I think it will be denied. The way coal has been treated the last few year makes this deal a no go. Instead they will ship the oil intrastate by train. The first clue to me was the recent deal by Kinder Morgan to ship by train.
Mr. President:
Try fewer plane trips, it will warm the planet less.
That means a green light for the pipeline!
Because it certainly will not warm the planet.
Oops, I forgot,we're using econut reality and Obama reality......
We will just hire all the people Barry used to say Obamacare wouldn’t increase anyone’s healthcare premiums.
Western Canada will easily sell the oil elsewhere. And being a net exporter of oil and other important commodities, Western Canada stands to do very well in the future.
I think that’s the whole gameplan....the train stocks are looking great over the past couple of years. They will haul it and the President doesn’t care about trains delivering it. If you posed the question that trains might move the oil....he’s bound to just look at you with glazed eyes, and not understand.
I wonder if he would approve building the pipeline if Canada promised to keep all the global warming on their side of the border. At least they will be warm in the winter.
The entire annual vacation costs for this POS and his brood should be prominently displayed in every news outlet in the country . . . oh never mind how racist of me . . . oh gotta go, the phone is ringing and by caller ID I see that it’s the IRS.
No pipeline but Buffet’s railroad can ship it and burn it.
The pipeline project is being slowed by layers of local, influential NIMBY constituents in each of the states planned for it, with one possible exception maybe being Texas. Environmentalism is used by constituents of all levels of government to prevent competition.
Can we get an infrared analysis of Washington DC?
Well, then. We know how this is going to go. We’re going to run the oil in trains through flyover country, and if anything bad happens it’ll just be small-town fol who get screwed. We can’t all be Chicago, can we?
Jon Scarry served in Vietnam? You don’t say...
If it means lowered fuel costs, people will use their cars more. So by his logic yes, the globe will significantly increase in temperature because of this pipeline.
Obama: No Keystone XL if it Warms MY Planet
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