Shot: Yesterday, Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitivenessreleased a reportcalling for an “all-in” approach to energy.
“Continuing to deliver inexpensiveand reliable energy is going to require the United States to optimize all ofits natural resources and obstruct pathways (pipelines, transmission anddistribution) to deliver electricity and fuel. The Council recognizes theimportant safety and environmental concerns surrounding these types ofprojects, but now more than ever, the jobs and economic energy securitybenefits of these energy projects require us to tackle the issues head-on andto expeditiously, though cautiously, move forward on projects that can supporthundreds of thousands of jobs.”
Chaser: From today’s WashingtonPost:
“The Obama administration todayformally rejected a bid by Canadian energy company TransCanada to build a $7billion oil pipeline linking the tar sands of Alberta to refineries in the Gulfof Mexico.”
Hangover: In a statement President Obama said that theCongressionally-imposed deadline for review of the Keystone XL pipeline did notallow the State Department to finish a “full assessment of the pipeline’simpact.” This ignores the fact that the project has already undergonetremendous amounts of regulatory scrutiny including three years of reviewconducted by ten federal agencies. And thus far the Keystone XL has passedevery test with flying colors.
The State Department’s Supplemental Draft Environmental ImpactStatement (the second round of reviews) even foundthat, “from a global perspective, the project is not likely to result in incrementalgreenhouse gas emissions.” Even going so far as to saythat the “proposed project would have a degree of safety over any othertypically constructed domestic oil pipeline system.”
So it’s not the environment that Washington is endangering,it’s a secure source of energy and jobs. According to a study by the PerrymanGroup, over the life of the project it would lead to $20.9 billion in spending,$9.605 billion in increased output, and 118,935 person-years of employment!That’s tens of thousands of U.S. jobs that our recovery could desperately use.