With Keystone rejection, Obama shows true colors
For all his talk about creating jobs and reducing on dependence on oil from dangerous nations, President Obama once again stands in the way of both. On top of his recalcitrance on harnessing the vast natural resources within our own borders, President Obama has now (as many of us expected) rejected a deal that would pipe oil from our friendly Canadian neighbors to Gulf-Coast refineries.
As reported by Business Week,
“The jobs promised by the building of the Keystone pipeline were central to union support for the project originally and the focal point of Republican criticism of Obama. TransCanada said the 1,661-mile (2,673-kilometer) project would carry 700,000 barrels of crude a day from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf coast, crossing six U.S. states and requiring as many as 20,000 workers to build.”
But, wait, what will Canada do with the abundant tar-sand crude they are ready and willing to send our way? Simple: For starters, send it to China. From Bloomberg:
President Barack Obama’s decision yesterday to reject a permit for TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline may prompt Canada to turn to China for oil exports. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a telephone call yesterday, told Obama “Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports,” according to details provided by Harper’s office. Canadian Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said relying less on the U.S. would help strengthen the country’s “financial security.” The “decision by the Obama administration underlines the importance of diversifying and expanding our markets, including the growing Asian market,” Oliver told reporters in Ottawa. Currently, 99 percent of Canada’s crude exports go to the U.S., a figure that Harper wants to reduce in his bid to make Canada a “superpower” in global energy markets.
So, if you’re keeping score at home: Canada wins. China wins. USA loses.
