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A senior US official said a Republican bill to deny US President Barack Obama the right to decide on the construction of an oil pipeline from Canada raises "serious" legal questions. Kerry Ann-Jones, who is charged with reviewing the pipeline issue for the State Department, also told a legislative panel that the proposed law "overrides foreign policy and national security considerations." Last week Obama, a Democrat, rejected the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas, saying he could not vouch for its safety by a deadline despite intense election-year pressure.

Warren Buffett, whom President Obama likes to cite as a fair-minded billionaire while arguing for higher taxes on the wealthy, stands to benefit from the president’s decision to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline permit. Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, which is among the railroads that would transport oil produced in western Canada if the pipeline isn’t built. “Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul,” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., told Bloomberg News. If Keystone XL “doesn’t happen, we’re here to...

'Whatever people bring to us, we're ready to haul' (BLOOMBERG) — Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit from the Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL oil pipeline permit. With modest expansion, railroads can handle all new oil produced in western Canada through 2030, according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the U.S. State Department. “Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul,” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said in an...

Reports of the death of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to supply Alberta crude oil to Texas refineries appear to be greatly exaggerated. Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his "profound disappointment" to President Barack Obama for rejecting TransCanada's proposed $7 billion pipeline. Obama was up against a political deadline for approving the project opposed by environmentalists and wanted more time for further reviews of the plans. In a phone call to Harper, Obama said TransCanada can submit an amended plan to reroute the pipeline around an environmentally sensitive aquifer in Nebraska. "This outcome is one of the scenarios we anticipated,"...

President Obama has released his first 2012 reelection campaign ad, and it’s a doozy, full of sexy numbers that would have you believe that Obama has figured out a way to make clean energy economically viable. The reality, however, is that Obama’s statistics grossly distort the truth, and the National Republic Trust Political Action Committee has debuted its rebuttal. Citing a Brookings Institution study, Obama’s ad implies that he created 2.7 million clean energy jobs, and that the clean energy sector is growing rapidly. Investor’s Business Daily reveals the dishonesty here: those 2.7 million jobs already existed, and the quoted...

Rail shipments of North Dakota crude to increase with decision to block Keystone XL pipeline ### North Dakota oil drillers increasingly will rely on trains to move barrels of crude to market after the Obama administration's decision to reject plans for a pipeline that would run from Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, state and industry officials say. "Pipelines are by far the safest and most economically efficient way to transport oil, but we are left with a limited number of options if pipelines are off the table," said Tony Clark, chairman of the North Dakota Public Service...

It’s well known that America’s dependence on foreign oil forces us to partner with some pretty unsavory regimes. Take, for instance, the country that provides by far the largest share of our petroleum imports. Its regime, in thrall to big oil interests, has grown increasingly bellicose, labeling environmental activists “radicals” and “terrorists” and is considering a crackdown on nonprofits that oppose its policies. It blames political dissent on the influence of “foreigners,” while steamrolling domestic opposition to oil projects bankrolled entirely by overseas investors. Meanwhile, its skyrocketing oil exports have sent the value of its currency soaring, enriching energy industry...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- This southern state and the Republican nomination race may be far removed from Canada, but that didn't stop Palmetto State primary winner Newt Gingrich from giving a shout out to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in his victory speech. While blasting President Barack Obama for rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline and the thousands of jobs it has been estimated it would create, Gingrich warned Canada will send its oil to China instead. And he praised Harper, too. "What Prime Minister Harper -- who, by the way, is conservative and pro-American -- what he has said is he's gonna...

Boulder, Colo. Statement by Susan Greene, president of the American Solar Energy Society: The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) applauds the decision by President Obama to deny a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline at this time. It’s simply good energy and climate policy to discourage further dependence on fossil fuels, regardless of the friendliness and stability of the source.

(Reuters) - The Congress has the constitutional right to legislate permits for cross-border oil pipelines like TransCanada's Keystone XL, according to a new legal analysis released late on Friday. The study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service could give a boost to Republicans drafting legislation to overturn a decision this week by President Barack Obama to put the $7 billion Alberta-to-Texas project on ice. Historically, U.S. presidents have made executive decisions on pipelines that cross borders. But Congress had the power all along to weigh in on the permits, said the study, done by four legislative attorneys with the CRS....

The big news of the day, aside from the idiot rally finally being back on full bore, is that the Obama administration finally pushed Canada's hand in telling it to sell its crude to China instead of the US, which we are confident it will gladly do. Much of this was largely priced on, as was the fact that opportunity for significant job creation was just kicked to the curb. What was not however expected, is that in keeping up with the fine tradition of taking responsibility for his decisions and actions, kinda sorta, America's president said that it was...

"In the Treasury we do not speak of tons of silver. Our unit is the troy ounce." That was the response from some bureaucrat when Leslie Groves, the man who oversaw the Manhattan Project, sought thousands of tons of silver to be turned into electrical wires. Groves got his silver. Why? Because completing the Manhattan Project -- and winning the war -- was America's top priority. For three years, the Obama administration and its cheerleaders have tried to claim that they stand for the same can-do spirit. Administration officials have a rare form of Keynesian Tourette's syndrome whereby they blurt...

When asked why he robbed banks, infamous mid-20th century criminal Willie Sutton would reply in a matter-of-fact manner: “Because that’s where the money is.” Applying that logic to America’s current unemployment situation should lead the Obama administration to look to U.S. energy resources. Because that’s where the jobs are.The Labor Department’s latest data makes this fact clear. While the total U.S. workforce has shrunk by over 4 percent since the recession hit in 2007, employment in the oil and gas sector has grown nearly 22 percent. The industry employs about 2.1 million people directly and about another 7 million indirectly...

WASHINGTON — On Dec. 31, just hours before a New Year's Eve celebration, President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. Section 1245 of the law contains language providing authority to impose economic sanctions on Iran in order to deter the ayatollahs from acquiring nuclear weapons. White House efforts to have the sanctions provision stripped from the bill failed, and the measure became law with a quiet flourish of the presidential pen. Ever since, Washington and Tehran have been waging a war of words. None of this works to the advantage of the American...

Obama For America sent an email to residents of North Dakota and Minnesota tonight asking for their support in light of the president's decision to kill the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. It is an interesting move by the campaign, considering the pipeline would have cut through North Dakota near the Minnesota border and ostensibly created thousands of jobs. The front page of the Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune today featured a huge headline screaming "Rejection Hurts." The campaign email could be more damage control than cash plea. It links to a web page with an explanation of the rejection as well as...

America's loss is China's gain. In the aftermath of the Keystone XL fiasco, which will see not only a number of jobs "uncreated" but a natural source of crude lost, Canada is already planning next steps. Which will benefit Shanghai directly and immediately. As Bloomberg reports, "Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a telephone call yesterday, told Obama “Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports,” according to details provided by Harper’s office. Canadian Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said relying less on the U.S. would help strengthen the country’s “financial security.” The “decision by the Obama administration underlines...

<p>"We're complete fools" for scuttling the Keystone Pipeline because it would've brought energy security to the U.S., well-known oilman T. Boone Pickens told CNBC Wednesday.</p> <p>The chairman of BP Capital Management spoke after the Obama administration rejected TransCanada's $7 billion pipeline project running from the western province of Alberta to Houston.</p>

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Hell's a-poppin' out there. Hell is a-poppin', folks. All kinds of things are happening right now as the program begins. Fox News is reporting that the Obama administration is going to say "no" to the Keystone pipeline. The State Department is gonna say "no." They're gonna allow the Canadians to reapply with a new route that will not upset the precious habitat of Nebraska. Now, the prime minister of Canada said yesterday, I'm paraphrasing, "You Americans are absolutely nuts. If you want to treat your whole country like an off-limits National Park you go right ahead, but...

Energy Policy: Killing the Keystone XL pipeline may help one of the world's richest men get richer. North Dakota's booming oil fields will now grow more dependent on a railroad the president's economic guru just bought. [....] Interestingly, another billionaire, Obama economic inspiration Warren Buffett, stands to benefit from the Keystone XL pipeline delay. As oil production ramps up in the Bakken fields of North Dakota, plans to use the pipeline to transport it have been dashed. As a result, North Dakota's booming oil producers will have to rely even more on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad, which...

The Obama administration was poised on Wednesday to reject the Keystone crude oil pipeline, according to sources, a decision that would be welcomed by environmental groups but inflame the domestic energy industry. The administration could make its announcement on TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline late on Wednesday or on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. TransCanada Corp. shares slid more than 3 percent after the news.