Reason ^ | May 8, 2012 | Ronald Bailey
The president finds himself between an environmentalist rock and a labor union hard place
The Keystone XL pipeline is roiling U.S. electoral politics again. TransCanada refiled its application for a permit to build the pipeline with the State Department last week. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has vowed, “I will build that pipeline if I have to do it myself.” In April, the House of Representatives passed a transportation bill that mandates the construction of the Keystone pipeline.
The vote was 293 to 127, the majority vote was minus 14 Republicans, but included 69 Democrats. President Barack Obama threatened to veto the bill if it includes the pipeline construction mandate. Today, the House and Senate are conferring on the transportation bill that would spend more than $100 billion on highway, rail, air, and mass transit projects over the next two years. It is not known if the Keystone pipeline provision will emerge in the final version.
Reviewing the state of play: The crude oil pipeline would be built by TransCanada at a cost $7 billion and stretch nearly 1,700-miles from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast of the United States. The 36-inch pipeline would bring as much as 830,000 barrels of synthetic oil per day produced from Canadian oilsands to U.S. refineries. However, since it crosses an international border, President Barack Obama has the authority to refuse permission for construction to begin if he determines that the pipeline is not in the national interest. In August 2011, the Department of State issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement [PDF], which concluded that the pipeline could be built and operated safely. Once the State Department report was issued, Obama had 90 days to make his national interest determination.
The Keystone pipeline became a defining issue for political environmentalists who dramatized their...
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