Obama gets a Keystone Mulligan (another chance)

Townhall.com ^ | May 10, 2012 | Bob Beauprez



Barack Obama is going to get another shot at getting the decision of the Keystone XL Pipeline right. The Canadian company, TransCanada, seeking to build the massive delivery system that would transport 800,000 barrels of oil from the Canadian tar sands to Texas refineries announced it is resubmitting an application for permitting approval.

Obama killed the jobs creating, energy supplying proposal in January to appease his radical environmental constituency that opposes anything connected with the hydrocarbon industry. Criticism of his blatantly political decision came from all corners of the spectrum including the President's usually loyal labor unions who coveted the employment opportunities the pipeline would generate.
Less than three weeks after Obama rejected the pipeline project from our next door neighbor and ally, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on plans "to export oil and other resources to China, an effort that has intensified following the Obama administration's decision to reject…[the] Keystone XL pipeline," according to the Wall Street Journal.

The rejection of the Keystone pipeline quickly became a 2012 presidential campaign issue and the poster-child for Obama's opponents who charge he has the "most anti-oil-and-gas record in U.S. history." Mitt Romney has pledged "I will build that pipeline if I have to myself!"
The following excerpt is from the announcement by TransCanada with a link to the full article:
"The Canadian company seeking to build the massive Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline through the U.S. reapplied for a permit on Friday, pushing the politically sensitive issue back onto President Obama’s plate six months before the election."
"TransCanada announced it has asked for permits to build the pipeline into Nebraska, and will eventually submit a new route skirting environmentally sensitive lands in Nebraska — the sticking point that caused the Obama administration to reject its previous application."
"In a statement, TransCanada President Russ Girling made it clear he was appealing to Mr. Obama’s own stated goals of boosting American energy supplies. He also said the thousands of pages of environmental reviews already completed for the earlier application should convince the president to speed this new permit along." Read more