Boehner Pushes the XL Pipeline, Obama Gets Soggy

Opponents say the costly project is no answer for the nation's energy-related ills.

(LOS ANGELES) - The stated purpose of the Keystone Pipeline System is to transport synthetic crude oil and diluted bitumen ("dilbit") from the Athabasca Oil Sands in NE Alberta, Canada to a number of destinations in the U.S., including refineries in Illinois, Cushing oil distribution hub in Oklahoma, as well as proposed connections to refineries in Texas.

Wikipedia explains that the Keystone XL pipeline has been sued by oil refineries and received criticism from environmentalists, it also drew the attention of members of U.S. Congress. The State Department extended the deadline for federal agencies to decide in 2010, if the pipeline is in the national interest. The following year, President Barack Obama postponed the decision until 2013.

The next move came from Republican Senators late last year; legislation was introduced on 30 November 2011, aimed at forcing the Obama administration to approve the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days, unless the president declares the project is not in the national interest.

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On November 7, 2011, several thousand environmentalist supporters, some shouldering a long black inflatable replica of a pipeline, formed a human chain around the White House to try to convince Barack Obama to block the controversial Keystone XL project. Organiser Bill McKibben said, "this has become not only the biggest environmental flash point in many, many years, but maybe the issue in recent times in the Obama administration when he's been most directly confronted by people in the street. In this case, people willing, hopeful, almost dying for him to be the Barack Obama of 2008.

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Politico reports today, that Obama met with House Speaker John Boehner at the White House Wednesday during a lunch meeting, over the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and that "optimism" was expressed over finding "common ground" on several energy and jobs bills.

Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters, "I did press the president on the Keystone pipeline. The president said, ‘Well, you’re gonna get part.'" He added, "I just wish we were getting the part that actually delivers the oil out of Canada."

Our own writer, Odd man Out in Laguna Beach, Roger Butow, is a longtime California water quality activist. He says the President's position on the pipeline project amounts to a sham.

"The Keystone XL Pipeline really portends is the USA as a traitorous Judas to its own conservation core values (take that Republican President Teddy Roosevelt!), ignoring the states right’s concepts that have kept things balanced----allowing a large international petrochemical corporation from another nation to take a money-saving shortcut across our country’s middle…."

It is reported from Seattle, that the Keystone XL battle isn't over. The Canadian company behind the controversial pipeline announced Monday that it would proceed immediately with a shorter version of the project south of Oklahoma — even as it seeks a new permit for the segment through the northern U.S. Opponents immediately vowed to fight on both fronts.

"TransCanada is hell-bent on bringing tar sands, the world's dirtiest oil, through America to reach foreign markets. They can't wait for a fair, scientific environmental review they know their pipeline would fail," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement.

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Anonymous March 1, 2012 3:21 pm (Pacific time)

I wonder how many of you would deal successfully with a long term blackout? Experience is the best teacher, and a blackout is nothing like going camping. It will bring utter chaos. Remember a time back when the grid went down and New York City had no transporation system to deal with millions of commuters? Well, this will happen again and again and again until we assure a steady supply of energy. We are decades away from getting off fossil fuels, so you either handle the coming chaos that will happen with a continuance of the status quo, or change leaders via your vote. Time grows short. So many will die needlessly if the current administration continues, they really will. Most of you will have no food in less than 30 days, and the mobs and gangs will still come to look to see for sure. I assure you Mrs. Obama will still take plenty of 5 star vacations on the taxpayer, regardless of the economy or how hard people are having it. Obama will certainly not miss a round of golf. These people think they are royalty, and just ask they will tell you they come from kings and queens.

Florian Schach February 29, 2012 9:03 pm (Pacific time)

While well intentioned, regulations as stringent as they sometimes can be end up destroying the one thing that they are meant to protect, people’s jobs. And ore often than not they are successful in keeping people safe, but they often have no replacement for the facilities which have just been closed down. So where do we go from here? We need to establish a more symbiotic relatipnship within regulatory practices and businesses so that we don’t constantly run into a problem of one completely shutting the other down (http://bit.ly/w1yk0F).

Florian Schach February 29, 2012 7:44 pm (Pacific time)

There is still potential in the pipeline project that could be realized or capitalized on if people would stop continually shooting the project down. We have to think about this pipeline in terms bigger than just oil and environment. The American Jobs Act proposal that was put forth in September 2011 which too was a model based heavily on infrastructure (http://eng.am/xSKXzv) which are also temporary kinds of jobs that doesn’t provide any sort of long term recovery growth for workers or the economy. We need use projects like those and these to develop a real game plan to get to the economic state that we want to be in. Otherwise we’ll just be going back and forth and getting nothing done.

Carolyn Paul February 29, 2012 6:31 pm (Pacific time)

Referencing Wikipedia data that way works, we know both 'sides' in this fight keep an eye on it, the service is an amazing fact pool. This is a case of pure sham, republican bullsh*t piled high as always.

stephen February 29, 2012 5:59 pm (Pacific time)

another dog and pony show..keep the masses in control...THey have oil fields all over this country tapped and ready to go..They will bring it out when the time is right for them...Its called "problem, reaction, solution" a tactic used since the beginning of time...Cause the havoc with high oil prices, then come in a savior..watch and see..By the way, five years ago, I said " the government will bail out the banks, then take control of property, then rent it back to the people (its in mainstream news now) WITH things such as: get your vaccinations, work where I tell ya to work, drive where I tell you to drive, dont complain about monsanto poison etc...This was all planned and I told many this, a decade ago...I guarantee, whoever, whether obama, biden, or romney, will unvail all the oil fields ready to go, when it is in their timing...I figure within the next 12 months. Remember this post, and watch it happen.

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Boehner Pushes the XL Pipeline, Obama Gets Soggy

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