Political Expediency - Delay of pipeline til 2013?

Is this President putting an election above the country? 


1.  The route was approved after extensive studies.

2.  The jobs produced would start at 20,000 and go to 500,000, for the Americans.

3.  It allows us to become less dependent on oil from hostile source.

4.  The stand of environmentalists objecting, President Obama put the decision on whether to approve the pipeline to 2013 - after the election. 

5.  Speeding up approval/permit processes is what any country must do if it is to achieve prosperity - and this is another negative indicator on Obama.

If he is indeed doing this for political purposes this does border on being treasonous.

Follow this story and see what is more likely to be the case.  More data below.

The Rational NonPolitician


HUGELY BENEFICIAL

During high unemployment in the USA in a world-wide recession, the Keystone XL pipeline would start with some 20,000 jobs with another 400,000 to come on steam later down the road.

Canada, who supplies more oil to the US than any other country, also its largest trading partner is proof positive that America does not have to rely on the Middle East for its oil.

READY FOR APPROVAL

For months, the conventional wisdom had been that a presidential permit for Keystone XL was inevitable; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in October 2010 that she was “inclined” to approve it because it was better to get oil from Canada than from less-friendly nations. The State Department then said in August stating that TransCanada’s proposed route is the preferred option.

The department had already examined routes further west and northeast of Nebraska that would have avoided the Sand Hills area and had released a final supplemental environmental review in August that said TransCanada’s proposed route was the preferred option and would have minimal effect on the environment.

“This project is too important to the U.S. economy, the Canadian economy and the national interest of the United States for it not to proceed,” Girling said a statement.



POLITICAL $ FOR OBAMA

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune had recently told reporters Obama’s decision on Keystone would “have a very big impact” on whether the nation’s largest environmental group funnels resources more toward congressional races rather than the race for the White House.

THIS COULD KILL THE WHOLE DEAL

The delay would "effectively kill" the project, said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. "The carrying costs are too high, and there's no certainty that at the end of 18 months the pipeline would be approved at all."

Russ Girling, chief executive officer of Calgary-based TransCanada, who had said rerouting delays might kill the project, said yesterday the company remains “confident Keystone XL will ultimately be approved.”

Canada’s ambassador in Washington, Gary Doer,   told reporters in Ottawa that he expected the project to be approved if judged on “merit,” rather than ”noise.”

The deferral on Keystone XL is a blow to the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who called U.S. approval of the pipeline a “no brainer.” Canadian officials underestimated the strength of resistance to the project by Nebraska farmers and environmentalists, political and foreign-policy experts said.

Canadian Finance Minister, Flaherty, 61, will travel later this week to Beijing, where he will discuss increasing energy exports to China and facilitating investment in Canadian natural-resource assets.

“The decision to delay it that long is actually quite a crucial decision. I’m not sure this project would survive that kind of delay,” Flaherty said yesterday in an interview at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu. “It may mean that we may have to move quickly to ensure that we can export our oil to Asia through British Columbia.”

The delay would "effectively kill" the project, said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. "The carrying costs are too high, and there's no certainty that at the end of 18 months the pipeline would be approved at all." TransCanada wants to build the 1,700-mile pipeline to carry oil extracted from Canadian oil sands to U.S. refineries.

Japan and China 'keen' for Alberta oil

"Basically all of our energy exports are currently going to the United States. We have one customer. So it is a major fundamental strategic objective of Canada to diversify our customer base," Oliver said.

"I was in China and Japan and I just got back yesterday. And let me tell you there’s a keen interest in our resources in both those countries. The Japanese are interested in our natural gas, the Chinese in our oil and gas."

 

 

Both Planning AND Experience

Those who are enamored with "good ideas" and "noble motives" are to be applauded for their high thinking.  We all want to create "good" for our fellow man, to varying degrees of course.

AND we need to bridge the gap when it comes to actually implementing what works, toward those higher objectives.

It appears that this President, plus some of the government staff, have allowed the noble ideas to rule ABOVE the practicality and probability of good results that effectively move us toward those objectives.  Or they just haven't done their homework, staying in a form of "fantasyland" and of "meaning well". 

The objective of benefitting mankind by saving the environment through the use of "green" technology is a good objective, of course.  But the benefits of what we actually can produce must be considered AND we must have a plan on how to do it, one that suggests a very good chance of success. 

Solyndra is a classic example, where we sought to support green technology by guaranteeing a loan of more than a half a billion dollars and touted it (with no less than televised attendance there by Biden and then by Obama).  Without going through the whole story, this quote tells the tale:  "But the company has since filed for bankruptcy and laid off 1,100 workers, saying it couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers of solar panels."   (Its total capitalization, including venture capital was a billion and a half. - alot to lose in about two years.)

This was an easily seeable fact (the great conditions for manufacturing in China).   It was an ill-considered business proposition.  It appeared to be amateurish, wishful thinking.

We must, instead, look at where we can get the most short and long term effect for the dollar and use thinking that would be expert-business-like, where we shoot for the good for the environment but are practical.  Bjorn Lomberg, "the skeptical environmentalist", provides a well-considered approach.  His website  and/or a video at TED (plus some on YouTube).

We need a leader who is able to think analytically in a practical context, which requires experience in forms of business and economic management - and with good values and character.  A trade-off that we must also consider is the ability of the leader to get results in the political arena, which suggests that the leader should have some governing experience.  Being only a politician is not sufficient as well as being only an experienced businessman not being suffient.  On this basis, Cain would be excluded (very likable, very capable fellow) as would Santorum and Bachmann.  Only two candidates meet those criteria.

This may have been the mistake that occurred with Obama, who has had to go through OJT (on the job training), which is not a good idea when there is such a short period plus not a good idea to have a low experience person thrust into one of the most difficult jobs.  No company would throw any inexperience person, no matter how smart, into a high level position - all of us have to go through the levels, building our knowledge and experience.  Obama is admirable in his motives for the good of the people, but he appears not able to garner sufficient wisdom to be effective in this job - I voted for him myself in order to "shake things up", knowing that he was the least experienced of the eight candidates at the time, plus the alternative choice was not logical at all.

When you are selecting a candidate to vote for, whether for President or other elected offices, you should use practical ability and comprehension about what works as an essential quality.

The Rational Non-Politician

See also the draft on the site called Rating The Politicians, where we are formulating specific criteria beyond promises, posturing, and rhetoric for selecting someone to vote for.  Rating The Politicians.