Does anyone seriously believe Secretary of State John Kerry will solely make the decision to go forward with the Keystone XL Pipeline? And will that decision be made prior to the 2014 mid-term elections? No, to both questions.
At a January 17, 2014 joint press conference with Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird, Kerry indicated he would not be pushed into making a decision on Keystone. “My hope is that before long, that analysis will be available, and then my work begins,” said Kerry referring to the decision he will make when he has all of the input. Baird jokingly commented that he had discussions with Hillary Clinton more than two years ago.
I couldn’t help but think of the administration’s stonewalling on Fast & Furious, Benghazi, and the IRS scandal when Kerry, while discussing the public comment period, said, “We’re all accountable to our publics. The democratic process demands that …”
The president was opposed to the project before he was for it, or was it just the other way around? In March 2012 the president, standing in front of a stack of pipe at a photo op in Oklahoma, said, “I’m directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done.”
Two years earlier, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking on giving the go ahead for the pipeline to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, told the audience “we are inclined to do so.”
Meanwhile, as the so called “jobs president” continues to listen to campaign donor environmentalists, he ignores the prospect of jobs associated with the pipeline. TransCanada has considerable experience in accurately determining job requirements and believes it would directly employ 9,000 American workers. With some 4,000 workers hired for the southern portion, the company is able to link 20,000 jobs to the pipeline. Add to that the jobs at suppliers and those at restaurants, hotels and other retail establishments in the vicinity.
