Free Republic

There must be some fans of The Walking Dead at the White House and the DNC these days, because there are apparently some bad ideas which never die, no matter how many stakes you drive through them. One of these is the carbon tax, not so subtly invoked during the State of the Union address, and now making a comeback with some of the usual list of suspects in Congress. But this time it may be coming with a twist. You want your Keystone XL pipeline and all of the jobs, opportunity and energy advantages it offers? Well show us...

The State Department released preliminary findings of a new environmental impact study surrounding the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, but made no clear recommendation as to whether the the pipeline should be held up for environmental or economic reasons. Reporters trying to make sense of the nearly 2,000 pages of findings were flummoxed by one senior State Department official who stressed that the document “does not come out one way or the other and make a decision” about whether the U.S. should or should not go forward with the project. Years of heated debate have surrounded the proposed 1,700...

US Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) were joined by 18 other senators from both parties as they urged newly confirmed Secretary of State John F. Kerry to approve the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline during this year’s first quarter. “The State Department received the new route approved by the state of Nebraska on Jan. 22…but [it] has yet to inform the public and stakeholders of a definitive process for the final decision,” the 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans said in their Feb. 22 letter. “We urge you as Secretary of State to ensure that this decision...

President Obama faces a knotty decision in whether to approve the much-delayed Keystone oil pipeline: a choice between alienating environmental advocates who overwhelmingly supported his candidacy or causing a deep and perhaps lasting rift with Canada. Canada, the United States' most important trading partner and a close ally on Iran and Afghanistan, is counting on the pipeline to propel more growth in its oil patch, a vital engine for its economy. Its leaders have made it clear that an American rejection would be viewed as an unneighborly act and could bring retaliation. Secretary of State John F. Kerry's first meeting...

Environmental groups gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Sunday and marched on the White House for a climate change rally largely aimed at pressuring President Obama to reject the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. Organizers said 35,000 activists attended the rally, where speakers portrayed the battle over the pipeline as a struggle between grassroots green groups and deep-pocketed special interests. “They’ve got the lobbyists. They’ve got the super-PACs. They made the campaign contributions. They’ve got this town in their pockets — they have got the situation under control. And then you show up. And then we show up....

Planned Changes to U.S. Crude Oil Pipeline Infrastructure Should Relieve Cushing Bottleneck Historically, Cushing, Oklahoma has served as the midcontinent hub for distribution of both crude oil imported to the U.S. Gulf Coast and West Texas crude oil production. Pipelines were constructed and configured to move crude oil north to Cushing, and then on to refineries throughout the Midwest. However, as crude oil production has grown in the U.S. midcontinent and Canada, the Cushing hub has become over-supplied. As a result, market participants increasingly have been looking to relieve bottlenecks at Cushing by reconfiguring and expanding pipeline infrastructure to move...

Energy: The president's proposed Energy Security Fund will stifle the private energy sector boom and provide permanent funding for future Solyndras and electric cars that nobody wants. And what about that pipeline, sir? A nonexistent crisis is a terrible thing to waste, and in justifying his proposal for a cap-and-tax scheme, President Obama claimed in his State Of The Union that "the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15." He was lying. The fact is, according to new data released quietly last October by Britain's Met Office, the world's natural post-Ice Age warming trend stopped...

Pipelines used to be things that were just built without blinking. It is said that there are enough pipelines now in the US to encircle the Earth 25 times with enough left over to also tie a bow around it. Today, getting a pipeline built is not so easy - there are too many environmental concerns and the industry has become highly polarized. But here’s one thing that could bring everyone together: pipeline safety technology. And it’s something we all want, especially for those who live along the thousands of miles of aging pipeline routes that carry hazardous liquids. Spawned...

Tune in Tuesday night to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. As the president speaks, he will be alert to the chorus of Hollywood stars, environmental activists, editorial writers and industry leaders who are pushing for him to make the biggest climate-change decision he can possibly make: Impose a carbon tax.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Eight people were arrested Monday at a construction site for the Keystone XL oil pipeline in central Oklahoma, including one man who locked himself to a crane-like piece of machinery, authorities said. The two women and six men were arrested on trespassing complaints at the site near the town of Schoolton, Seminole County sheriff's Chief Deputy Chris Conn said. On woman also was cited for resisting arrest. None of their names has been released. "We had several individuals on private property who refused to leave, and they were arrested for trespassing," Conn said. "One individual was...

Canadians worried US president won’t honor Nebraska governor’s decision The Canadian government has suddenly turned edgy about hopes of seeing TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline clearing its final regulatory hurdle and spreading fresh optimism among Alberta oil sands and Bakken producers. Now that Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has sent a letter to President Barack Obama endorsing TransCanada’s proposed rerouting of the pipeline to avoid the state’s ecologically sensitive Sandhills region, the final verdict rests with the U.S. State Department which must issue a Presidential Permit for any pipeline crossing the Canada-U.S. border. At the same time a letter signed by 53...

Republicans jumped on the news that the Obama administration is delaying judgment on the Keystone XL pipeline by another six months. “Americans have already waited >4yrs for #KXL, time for POTUS to say ‘yes,’” said a 11:14 a.m. tweet from the office of House Speaker Rep. John Boehner. Americans have already waited >4yrs for #KXL, time for POTUS to say “yes” #4jobs j.mp/WCTYV3 via @housecommerce — Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) February 1, 2013

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The Obama administration's decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline will not be made until at least June, a U.S. official said, which would delay the project for months and frustrate backers of Canada's oil sands. "We're talking the beginning of summer at the earliest," said the source, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the TransCanada Corp project, which has been pending for more than four and a half years. "It's not weeks until the final decision. It's months." A series of steps still have to be taken...

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has advanced its position in the North American shale race adding another 6,900 miles of pipelines and nine processing plants to its empire. Kinder’s deal to purchase Copano Energy for $3.9 billion, announced late Tuesday, will expand its its 46,000-mile pipeline network and, perhaps more important, will give it processing capabilities in key shales plays including the Eagle Ford in South Texas. “Copano gives us a great platform in the Eagle Ford,” partnership President Park Shaper said Wednesday. The pipeline giant announced late Tuesday night that it would buy midstream natural gas company Copano Energy for...

Canadian provincial premier, 10 state governors, seek Keystone pipeline decision The sense of urgency among Canadian governments and oil producers facing a crude transportation bottleneck and the looming prospect of shut-ins has prompted one provincial premier to join 10 U.S. state governors in urging President Barack Obama to end procrastination and approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline. “The energy relationship between the United States and Canada is vital to both our countries. It is an interest we share, transcending political lines and geographic boundaries,” the leaders said in a letter to Obama, hoping to gain the president’s attention as he embarks...

Barack Obama faced intense pressure to break with his inauguration day promise on climate change on Thursday, after a bipartisan majority in the Senate urged approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. The letter from 53 senators said there was no reason for Obama to deny the pipeline – as campaigners are demanding – because the project had now undergone exhaustive environmental review. The letter, signed by Democrats as well as Republicans, underlined the high political cost to Obama of living up to his promise to act on climate change. Campaign groups have made the pipeline their signature issue, saying the...

More than half the Senate on Wednesday urged quick approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ramping up pressure on President Barack Obama to move ahead with the project just days after he promised in his inaugural address to respond vigorously to the threat of climate change. 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...

How long has it been since we heard anything about the Keystone Pipeline? It's been months since it was in the news, with President Obama declining to approve the original route, due to environmental concerns (is there any other reason?) and saying more study needed to be done on the alternate routes that had been proposed. All of those excuses ended yesterday with the final approval of Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman for the new route. Governor Heineman has even sent a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking them to expedite their approval of the Keystone...

Washington-The Obama administration has delayed a decision on TransCanada Corp´s rerouted Keystone XL oil pipeline until after March, even though Nebraska´s governor on Tuesday approved a plan for part of the line running through his state. "We don´t anticipate being able to conclude our own review before the end of the first quarter of this year," said Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman at the State Department, which had previously said it would make a decision by that deadline. She said the department would take into consideration approval of the line by Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.

BREAKING: Governor approves new oil pipeline route....... LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has approved the rerouted Keystone XL oil pipeline path through Nebraska, putting the final decision squarely in the lap of President Obama’s administration. snip