Earlier this week The Wall Street Journal editorial board exposed the impact of green tape on gas prices, but today the case was made for the Obama Administration’s black belt in political jujitsu, with the Keystone XL pipeline being the qualifying test.
Back in January of this year, the Obama Administration rejected the permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline connecting Canadian oil sands to American refineries in the Gulf of Mexico because the project was not deemed in our ‘national interest.’ Anti-energy activists rejoiced, but we learned from Obama’s former economic confidant Alan Goolsbee that opposing the construction was ‘naïve’ since Canada would develop their valuable natural resources independent of what the United States decided.
Yesterday, TransCanada has announced plans to build a portion of the pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast, with the hope of extending the infrastructure to the Canadian oil sands in the future.
Now, we have the plot twist and political jujitsu: the Obama Administration is applauding this business decision and welcoming the much needed construction jobs. Here’s an excerpt from WSJ:
Now, apparently, it’s time to mollify the Administration’s union supporters that favored the thousands of jobs that the shovel-ready Keystone would have thrown off—not to mention the many not-so-stupid voters who’ve noticed Mr. Obama’s antijobs politics. The White House immediately put out a statement claiming that “The President welcomes today’s news” and even that “we support the company’s interest in proceeding with this project.”
The swiftness of this about-face is impressive, but it doesn’t change the fact that TransCanada’s proposal is a less desirable workaround to a job-creating project the President and his administration have opposed from the beginning. If we build it, the jobs will come, but also the energy. Right now, our economy desperately needs both.
Indeed, this is political jujitsu. It’s too bad the American taxpayer is the one being taken to the mat and pinned down by the Obama Administration.
