Erika Johnsen
Hot Air
3/1/2013
TransCanada has only been waiting for the go-ahead for the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline for, oh, four or so years now, and the State Department has now several times concluded that the pipeline poses no real reason for environmental alarm — despite the vociferous protestations of its eco-critics. After having released an environmental impact review in 2011 that basically concluded that the project poses no real threats, State released another revised environmental impact review on Friday afternoon that… also basically concludes that the project poses no real threats. It very carefully avoids making any recommendations for specific action on the pipeline’s fate, but at least fails to highlight any reason why the project shouldn’t be built:
A draft State Department report concludes that building the Keystone XL pipeline would not speed up development of Canada’s oil sands, dealing a blow to environmentalists who claim Keystone would worsen climate change.
The report from the State Department does not take a firm position on whether the proposed Canada-to-Texas pipeline would be detrimental to the environment or exacerbate global warming.
But the draft also says that “approval or denial of the proposed project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the amount of heavy crude oil refined in the Gulf Coast area.”
To what I’m sure the department knew would be the eco-warriors’ chagrin, the 2,000 page report confirmed what the pipeline’s proponents have been arguing: Whether the pipeline is built or not won’t have much of an impact on climate change, because Canada is still going to develop those oil sands (since China will happily buy up the supplies if we won’t allow them to filter through our own markets), and the “implementation of the proposed Project in Canada would not likely result in significant adverse environmental effects.”…
The article continues at HotAir.com
Update: Controversial green jobs program to get axed in sequester
A controversial Bureau of Labor Statistics program that tracks U.S. green jobs will get the axe, according to Bloomberg News, because of the automatic budget cuts, called the sequester…
Update 2: Obama Moves to Approve Keystone Pipeline
…There is an old saw in media that the best stories are released Friday afternoon. Administrations release information then to try to bury the news over the weekend. The assessment is sure to enflame the hair-shirt wing of the Democrats. The left has been divided over the pipeline, with unions strongly supporting the construction against the environmental community. Today, it looks like Obama is siding with the unions.
Or, at least he is inclined too. The floating of the draft assessment is a test for the environmental movement. If, perhaps, they could drum up public opposition to the pipeline, Obama could pivot. They are likely to fail that test, however.
Update 3: Obama’s Green Money Scheme Exposed – Part One
Few realize that the “green movement” is about building large personal fortunes for an elite few. As with all robber barons, it is about the money. It is why President Barack Obama laid out his threat to again bypass Congress and ignore the American people during his 2013 State of the Union Address…
