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1-20-12 Alaska Gasline Takes Step Forward - Keystone Takes Step Backward
Peter Foster in yesterday's FP urges us to, "follow the money and expose misinformation" about Keystone.
Yesterday, the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation announced the ASAP Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) will be published in the Federal Register today, Friday, January 20, 2012. Here is the DEIS link. * Mat-Su Frontiersman Story, by Andrew Wellner. * The Alaska Dispatch provides Governor Sean Parnell's (NGP file Photo) State of the State speech transcript: "Currently, Alaska is pursuing parallel tracks to get a gasline. The State financially supports two different projects – one under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, and the other under the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation. While both are making progress, neither can finish the job alone."
This week the Obama Administration announced.jpg)
that it is not going to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that has the potential to create 20,000 immediate jobs and deliver 700,000 barrels of oil per day to U.S. markets. The pipeline has been under consideration by the State Department since 2008. Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) Executive Vice President Michael Whatley (NGP Photo) said, "CEA is extremely disappointed with the Administration's announcement. It is mystifying that they would make this announcement less than 24 hours after the President's own Council on Jobs and Competitiveness specifically called for growth in the energy sector to increase job creation. With gasoline prices at record annual highs and Iran threatening the Straits of Hormuz, there is simply no excuse for the Administration not to move forward with this project now." Last fall, CEA delivered more than 450,000 public comments from across the country supporting construction of Keystone XL.
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Financial Post
“Like regulatory approvals needed for a wide range of other energy projects, the permitting process for Keystone subjected it to years of delay, maximized uncertainty for investors and the oil industry and was ultimately influenced by extraneous factors that were not relevant to the pipeline extension itself.”
Washington Post
“We almost hope this was a political call because, on the substance, there should be no question […] Environmentalists should fight for policies that might actually do substantial good instead of tilting against Keystone XL, and President Obama should have the courage to say so.”
USA Today
“The Obama administration's kick-the-can decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, at least for now, leaves a confusing muddle that exemplifies the continuing fecklessness of U.S. energy policy.”
Wall Street Journal
“The central conflict of the Obama Presidency has been between the jobs and growth crisis he inherited and the President's hell-for-leather pursuit of his larger social-policy ambitions. The tragedy is that the economic recovery has been so lackluster because the second impulse keeps winning. Yesterday came proof positive with the White House's repudiation of the Keystone XL pipeline, TransCanada's $7 billion shovel-ready project that would support tens of thousands of jobs if only it could get the requisite U.S. permits. Those jobs, apparently, can wait.”
Houston Chronicle
“President Barack Obama has made a shockingly shortsighted decision by rejecting a go-ahead for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. By doing so, Obama has openly proclaimed the primacy of his own re-election over the nation's long-term energy and economic security.”
Chicago Tribune
“Obama made a decision that will cost the U.S. good jobs. He seems to think those jobs will still be there when he gets around to making a decision on the pipeline. But they may well be gone for good.”
New York Post
“Who knows how many potential jobs President Obama killed yesterday when he bowed to hard-core environmental activists and put an indefinite hold on the mammoth Keystone XL oil pipeline? Beyond doubt, it was a lot.”
Investor's Business Daily
“President Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL oil pipeline sums up his presidency. When it comes down to well-paying new jobs and cheaper energy vs. his political base, guess which wins.”
Washington Times
“The White House’s pre-emptive strike on the Keystone XL oil pipeline is a disaster for American workers and consumers. President Obama continues to demonstrate that he has no idea how real jobs are created or how the economy works.”
Note: In addition to editorial boards, Congressional leadership and unions have expressed their disappointment with Keystone XL’s delay. Senate Republicans have compiled a complete list, including key Democrats who have spoken out against President Obama.
Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.): "I strongly disagree with President Obama's decision to postpone the Keystone pipeline project, which will sustain and create jobs." (Sen. Pryor Statement, Twitter, 1/18/12)
Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.): "There is absolutely no reason we cannot start putting Montanans to work on the Keystone XL pipeline right away…" ("Keystone Decision Hands GOP Ammo," Roll Call, 1/19/12)
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