The Keystone Pipeline is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the U.S. that runs from Alberta to refineries in Illinois, Texas, and Oklahoma. There are four total phases of the pipeline; three are in operation, and the fourth, known as Keystone XL, is still awaiting government approval.
Thus far, the Keystone XL pipeline proposal has faced rough disapproval from environmentalists and some members of Congress. In 2012, Obama rejected the construction of the pipeline amid controversy in Nebraska (the environmentally delicate Sand Hills Region was in danger many said). Many times, a Canadian corporation has interfered to change the original proposed route of Keystone XL to minimize disturbances of land and water resources. In April, it was announced that the review of the Keystone XL pipeline will be extended, as the result of a legal challenge to a Nebraska pipeline has not yet been resolved. This issue has been in the Nebraska Supreme Court for some time.
It was recently announced by the White House press secretary John Earnest that Obama is planning to veto the Keystone XL bill if Congress passes a measure “green-lighting” the oil pipeline. Currently, the pipeline is approved by the State Department, which has already concluded that it would have minimal environmental damage. However, it has also become apparent that Keystone would create about 42,000 jobs directly, but only 50 permanent jobs.
Obama’s main issue with the legislation is that he does not want Congress to continue to attempt to take the decision out of his hands. Earnest said, “The President has been very clear that he does not think that circumventing a well-established process for evaluating these projects is the right thing for Congress to do.” While the bill has some bipartisan support, environmentalists and all sorts of progressives have intensely lobbied the White House to oppose Keystone XL.
Democrats have been seeking to delay facing this issue by insisting that the new congress be confirmed before proceeding. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee still plans to meet this coming Thursday to vote to send it to the floor. The tactical delay by the Democrats probably means a Senate vote will not happen until late January, though the House is expected to pass its Keystone bill on Friday.
House Speaker John Boehner recently released a statement calling the President “hopelessly out of touch” with Americans and ridiculing his strategy for opposing the pipeline. Boehner said in his statement, “Fringe extremists in the President's party are the only ones who oppose Keystone, but the President has chosen to side with them instead of the American people and the government's own scientific evidence that this project is safe for the environment.”
This issue raises many questions about topics we have been learning about in class. First off, interest groups. It is interest groups (environmentally concerned ones, like the Sierra Club for example) that are making this problem so hotly contested. Secondly, the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline is rooted in policy gridlock and poor relations between the executive and legislative branches. Furthermore, this issue is an economic one, as it both creates jobs, but not sustainable ones. The questions I pose are these: in this case, are the interest groups involved in attempting to block this legislation positive or negative? How can policy gridlock be controlled? Is it vital that we create Keystone XL? Do you agree with Boehner that Obama is just listening to the Democratic extremists and not acting in America’s best interest? Is this legislation a valid use of the presidential veto?
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