The Cost of President Obama's Keystone XL Dithering

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/22/us-oil-pipeline-nebraska-idUSTRE7AL1M120111122
LINCOLN, Neb | Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:50pm EST
(Reuters) - Nebraska governor Dave Heineman signed into law on Tuesday bills to reroute the Keystone XL pipeline away from the ecologically sensitive Sandhills region.
One bill puts into law a compromise agreed with Keystone pipeline builder TransCanada to move the route away from the Sandhills and the Ogallala aquifer. The second bill approves state funding for an environmental study for a new pipeline route not to exceed $2 million.
By law, the governor now has the final say in state government on the new route. The U.S. Secretary of State has the final say nationally.

John N Florida of FL 1:30PM March 14, 2012

None of the oil intended for the Keystone Pipeline will ever go towards the US domestic oil supply - its all going to China. NO question about it.
Recently the largest IPO ever happened in Hong Kong selling stock for the Oil Sands, so the Chinese own the resource and have no intention of selling a drop to supply the US domestic markets. The US doesn't own the resource and won't see any money from selling it. None of the oil will reach the US markets, so it won't help our domestic oil supply. All the oil sludge going through the Keystone Pipeline was always intended for China. Anyone telling you otherwise is lying, most likely working for oil companies or collecting ad revenues for oil companies like Mort here. Canada will be trying to build a pipeline to the West Coast with or without the Keystone pipeline.
The whole gimmick that there will be any jobs coming from the Keystone pipeline is grossly exaggerated for political mockery. The pipeline might at best hire a couple thousand workers to build, and the Canadians already have their own crews ready to come build it. These are boom-bust oil patch jobs of transient workers anyway. The pipeline construction might last a couple months at most and when the pipeline is done, there would only about a hundred permanent jobs to maintain it.
The whole argument for the Keystone pipeline is built on lies. Mort is repeating a number of the lies here well knowing its all fiction.
Its fine if Canada wants to sell its oil to China, but don't ask the US to subsidize it. There is no way we should let the foreign oil companies use eminent domain to seize American property to build the freakin pipeline. The only dithering is that people don't this pipeline as more of the billions in welfare going to foreign oil companies, that are literally trying to buy up our government, just like they have already bought up the Canadian Conservative party and Steven Harper.
The American people see no profit or benefit for the Keystone Pipeline whatsoever, except to prove that our corrupt Congress is owned by foreign oil companies, as much our national media has sold out. If its any consolation to Canada, they know that an ice free Arctic Ocean will be opening up to tanker traffic very soon and they won't have to buy access through the US, like they are trying to do now.

Ron of LA 4:22PM February 29, 2012

THREE THINGS about Keystone:
1. If the Keystone Pipeline doesn't happen, a pipeline will be built to bring the oil to the West Coast, where it will go to China. So the world supply/demand pricing will only be affected to the extent of the marginal extra cost of transporting the oil to China over what it would have cost to transport it to the US Gulf Coast.
2. Aristotle long ago pointed out that Democracy was the best of polities only because the perversions of the forms (Kingship and Aristocracy) were worse. Democracies, he pointed out, are very inefficient. That's what is happening with regard to the Keystone Pipeline.
3. So let's not blame it all on Obama. He's just playing his appointed role as a politician in a Democracy. We can blame Obama for not breaking out of the box and asserting what is right over what is politically expedient.

stevchipmunk of PA 12:49AM February 26, 2012

I am all for the Keystone Pipeline as are my fellow Tea Partyers. However, the refiners are exporting so much of our gasoline, etc to China and India that it creates an artificial short supply in the U.S. Thus, the high (rising) gasoline prices. The big oil refiners will just have that much more to export. BUT, we have to be careful what we wish for as the government will be all too eager to jump in and "fix" it at the loss of more freedoms.

Craig Wehrung of OH 2:59PM February 22, 2012

The entire thing would be nice if we would be getting any of the gas that will go through our mid-section.

Annette of UT 8:53PM February 21, 2012

“The original Keystone pipeline won approval after two years and is operational. But in 2013, the Keystone XL (extension) will be in its fourth year of review, a Great Dither not justified when the State Department conducted three consecutive environmental reviews to reach its conclusion of minimal environmental impact.”
I guess that 12 spills since the orginal Keystone pipeline went online in June 2010 had little to do with the dithering huh?
“A final go-ahead for the $7 billion shovel-ready project would have supported tens of thousands of jobs now: 20,000 in new, direct well-paid construction and manufacturing jobs, and roughly 100,000 in indirect jobs along the pipeline, according to the developer, TransCanada.”
TransCanada themselves exaggerated the job creation numbers. A study said that only 6,000 US jobs would be created.
“The Canadian prime minister, with the full support of his cabinet, may seek to redirect this oil to export markets in Asia, ‘based on what's happened with Keystone XL.’”
The Canadians were planning to build a pipeline to British Columbia as a “companion”, not an alternative to Keystone XL http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/20-4 That pipeline is also facing strong opposition from not only environmental groups, but also from “First Nation” organizations within Canada.

gman5541 of WA 6:02PM February 21, 2012

GAS PRICES ARE GOING UP...
Something tells me that won't be good for our staggering economy.
Obama's Green Dreams of windmills and solar panels are turning out to be nightmares - tens of thousands of acres destroyed, millions of birds killed, animals driven off the land by glaring mirrors and whirling, monstrous, steel scarecrows. Neither of them producing much, if any, "net" energy. Billions in subsidies for a negative result.
Get the EPA (Energy Prohibition Agency) out of the way, then increase drilling offshore and elsewhere, pursue clean coal, natural gas and nuclear.
The question is, does America have the political will to dump extreme regulations, promote energy independence, create jobs and preserve outdoor access and recreational opportunities - or will we simply allow these resources to be lost forever to both the public and for national economic benefit?
Do we really want to lock away our national resources and go on pretending that "Green Jobs", crippling regulations, closed roads, lost jobs, and prohibitions on access and recreation in our "public lands" are going to make America energy independent or a better place to live?
The pendulum needs to swing back to center - away from Environmentalist extremism - to the middle ground of responsible environmental stewardship - not worship.
We stand at a crossroads. We can chose to shackle ourselves with choking, gasping, stagnation bound enviro-dogma or sensibly move forward, using all means available in a responsible, technological and efficient manner.
As always, remember, "Going Green Has Gone Too Far".

R.L. Schaefer of CA 11:56AM February 21, 2012

If Keystone XL isn't built then the oil will go to China via British Columbia. It will still get to China one way or another. And since it's the dirtiest oil in the ground I really don't want to breath it when it's burned. There is no way that drilling for more oil is going to make us energy independent. There isn't that much in the ground anywhere. By the time all the oil is removed from the ground and burned we won't be able to breath the air and will have to move to another planet. Has anyone ever thought about that?

bicycler1951 of OR 11:08AM February 21, 2012

Blocking the construction (until at least until after 2013) is absolutely inexcusable and nakedly political. American prosperity and economic growth were never high on Obama's priorities list though.....terrible leadership.

Mike of NY 10:54AM February 21, 2012

The number of jobs this project would create, especially long term, is ambiguous.
I am confident that Mr. Zuckerman, a Canadian, has never had America's best interest at heart and has contributed in the most negative way to America!

M. Delphia Block of CA 4:08AM February 21, 2012