Author Topic: Have Environmentalists Blundered on Keystone?  (Read 582 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
Have Environmentalists Blundered on Keystone?
« on: February 07, 2014, 05:03:48 am »
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/02/have-environmentalists-blundered-on-keystone.php

February 6, 2014 by Steven Hayward in Energy Policy
Have Environmentalists Blundered on Keystone?

I think it is at least 50-50 that Obama will eventually approve the Keystone pipeline, in part for intrinsic reasons—and especially if he can fool Republicans into making a bad bargain over it—but also to demonstrate that he can stand up to parts of his own base. Think of it as his own Green Sob-Sister Souljah moment.  This outcome will expose the environmental hysterics as paper tigers.

My pals Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger take to the pages of The New Republic today to point out how stupid and hypocritical the Keystone opposition has been.  They’re especially annoyed with Van Jones’s comparison of Keystone opposition to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.  To this they snort:

Quote
    Imagine that after the “March on Washington” in 1963, the 300,000 or so participants all got on segregated buses for their return home. The equivalent is precisely what happens every time Keystone opponents climb into gas-powered vehicles after their D.C. protests. Whether the next destination is the hinterlands of Alberta, the gates of the White House, or the next stop on the lecture circuit, even the most hardened protesters depend upon petroleum-fueled transport because oil is the lifeblood of the American economy. And the basic political economy of oil, not the political power of fossil-fuel companies, is what keeps America’s pipelines and oil rigs humming, despite the high economic and environmental price that we pay. . .

The Washington Post editorial board agrees:

    ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE drawn a line in the sand on the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s the wrong line in the wrong sand, far away from any realistic assessment of the merits — as yet another government analysis has confirmed. It’s past time for President Obama to set aside politics and resolve this bizarre distraction of an issue.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline EC

  • Shanghaied Editor
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 23,804
  • Gender: Male
  • Cats rule. Dogs drool.
Re: Have Environmentalists Blundered on Keystone?
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2014, 05:12:44 am »
Something has always bugged me about this whole Keystone pipeline thing.

You are assuming that the Canadians are willing to sell their oil to you. Why should they?

They have firm commitments from the Chinese, and the pipelines to the coast will allow them to sell to anyone in the Pacific that wants to buy. Basically, the USA has nothing to offer now. The time has passed.
The universe doesn't hate you. Unless your name is Tsutomu Yamaguchi

Avatar courtesy of Oceander

I've got a website now: Smoke and Ink

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
Re: Have Environmentalists Blundered on Keystone?
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2014, 05:18:23 am »
Something has always bugged me about this whole Keystone pipeline thing.

You are assuming that the Canadians are willing to sell their oil to you. Why should they?

They have firm commitments from the Chinese, and the pipelines to the coast will allow them to sell to anyone in the Pacific that wants to buy. Basically, the USA has nothing to offer now. The time has passed.

The Canadians WANT to sell the oil to us for two reasons. One proximity to the USA from the area of the oil sands, but also because to run the pipeline to the Pacific Coast to ship to China actually would run through some of the most environmentally pristine area in the Canadian NW.    It is much more advantageous to send it here.......... for everyone concerned, but the Chinese.  The southern leg of the pipeline is completed, we just need the connection from Canada... which need approval since it is across international borders..
« Last Edit: February 07, 2014, 05:19:21 am by Rapunzel »
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline truth_seeker

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,386
  • Gender: Male
  • Common Sense Results Oriented Conservative Veteran
Re: Have Environmentalists Blundered on Keystone?
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2014, 05:23:06 am »
Canada and the US are #1 trading partners, usually go to war together, guard North America together.

We are also closely, family wise. I have cousins in Canada on both parents' sides.

Canada would prefer selling to us.
"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln

Offline EC

  • Shanghaied Editor
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 23,804
  • Gender: Male
  • Cats rule. Dogs drool.
Re: Have Environmentalists Blundered on Keystone?
« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2014, 05:28:58 am »
Of course they'd have preferred to! Let's face it, apart from that little misunderstanding in 1812, the USA and Canada have always got along rather well. But after 5 years of stonewalling, and the Chinese buying up 25% of the oil sands producers, the pipeline no longer appeals.
The universe doesn't hate you. Unless your name is Tsutomu Yamaguchi

Avatar courtesy of Oceander

I've got a website now: Smoke and Ink