Obama Stands up to Big Oil and Polluter Politicians

[ProSense]

Obama Stands up to Big Oil and Polluter Politicians

by Phil Radford II Greenpeace

President Obama stood up to Big Oil and its puppets in Congress and denied a permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline yesterday. This is encouraging news for the communities whose air and water would have been directly threatened by this pipeline, from Canada to Nebraska to the Gulf Coast. And it's an important piece of the struggle to avert a runaway climate catastrophe. But since the Keystone XL has become a pitched political battle, this announcement is also an encouraging affirmation of the power of people, creative protest, and grassroots organizing in the face of the entrenched power and big bucks of the oil industry.

Earlier this month, American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard, the oil industry's top lobbyist, directly threatened President Obama with "huge political consequences" if he rejected Keystone XL. Speaker of the House John Boehner has been pushing the tar sands pipeline at every opportunity. Like most of the members of Congress that support Keystone XL, Boehner has taken piles of campaign cash from the very oil companies that were hoping to boost their profits with this scheme to pipe Canadian tar sands through America's heartland to the Gulf of Mexico and overseas markets.

This immense pressure from the oil industry came after months of grassroots organizing against the pipeline, weeks of creative protest in Washington DC where we and more than 1200 others were arrested in front of the White House, and a broad, diverse coalition mobilizing all around the United States and Canada to stop this pipeline.

Faced with a clear choice between Big Oil and all its money, threats, and politicians on the one hand, and a people powered movement determined to stop this enormous threat to our air, water, food security, and climate on the other, President Obama made the right call.

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/19/1056432/-Obama-Stands-up-to-Big-Oil-and-Polluter-Politicians-

[Lionessa]

1. NO he did NOT! Seems by his own announcement, his only issue

was being held to a time table. Otherwise he may well have sent it through. So though I'm very glad it is at least temporarily gone past, I have little hope that it's off the table or that we can rely on him to not let the next time.

He did NOT choose the powered people, he simply chose to be stubborn against the demand by Republicans to decide in two month.

[ProSense]

2. Here:

Thank President Obama for rejecting Keystone XL



https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/455/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9214&tag=webslide

[Luminous Animal]

3. He said it himself that it was rejected because of the time frame...

Comment from President Obama from the WhiteHouse.gov site...

Earlier today, I received the Secretary of State’s recommendation on the pending application for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. As the State Department made clear last month, the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment. As a result, the Secretary of State has recommended that the application be denied. And after reviewing the State Department’s report, I agree.

This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people. I’m disappointed that Republicans in Congress forced this decision, but it does not change my Administration’s commitment to American-made energy that creates jobs and reduces our dependence on oil. Under my Administration, domestic oil and natural gas production is up, while imports of foreign oil are down. In the months ahead, we will continue to look for new ways to partner with the oil and gas industry to increase our energy security –including the potential development of an oil pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico – even as we set higher efficiency standards for cars and trucks and invest in alternatives like biofuels and natural gas. And we will do so in a way that benefits American workers and businesses without risking the health and safety of the American people and the environment.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/18/statement-president-keystone-xl-pipeline

[ProSense]

4. Thanks

for posting the President's statement rejecting the pipeline.

Please sign the thank you at the comment above.

[Luminous Animal]

5. Hmmmm...

This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people. - Barack Obama.

[ProSense]

7. Hmmm?

Earlier today, I received the Secretary of State’s recommendation on the pending application for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. As the State Department made clear last month, the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment. As a result, the Secretary of State has recommended that the application be denied. And after reviewing the State Department’s report, I agree.

Rejected!


On edit, consensus among the entire environmental community, from the Friends of the Earth to the NRDC (http://www.nrdc.org/) and from Green Peace to the Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/): Rejected!

Isn't it time to come to grips with that reality?

[Luminous Animal]

11. And TransCanada is going to resubmit with a modified route...

And given that Obama is not making a judgement on the merits of the pipeline, it is far too early to celebrate.

[ProSense]

12. Well

"And TransCanada is going to resubmit with a modified route... it is far too early to celebrate. "

...it's not too early to "celebrate" that the current project was rejected.

[Lionessa]

6. Exactly. Not the will of the people at all, just a rejection of time lines. READ fully it is in

there.

"This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline"

[ProSense]

8. It's

really hard and getting harder isn't it?

[Lionessa]

9. I don't know what part of you is getting harder, but good luck with that.

[Selatius]

10. Looks like the rejection came from the fact that two months is insufficient for a study.

A rushed environmental impact study is as bad as no study at all. Had there been time given for a thorough study to be conducted on the impact of such a pipeline, the objection would've been dropped in my view.