The Flip Side Of Obama’s Keystone XL Delay

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/08



While President Obama made a big deal out of delaying the northern half of the Keystone pipeline’s construction, he compensated by signing an executive order to expedite similar infrastructure projects everywhere else.

The Flip Side Of Obama’s Keystone XL Delay
by Steve Horn
Published on Sunday, September 8, 2013 by Mint Press News

~snip~

Obama’s Keystone XL southern half March 2012 memo reads like Big Oil talking points.

“(W)e need an energy infrastructure system that can keep pace with advances in production,” Obama states in the Memo. “To promote American energy sources, we must not only extract oil — we must also be able to transport it to our world-class refineries, and ultimately to consumers.”

A metaphorical slap in the face to environmentalists who spent months working on opposing Keystone XL, Obama argued a more efficient, less bureaucratic means of approval was compulsory.

“(A)s part of my Administration’s broader efforts to improve the performance of Federal permitting and review processes, we must make pipeline infrastructure a priority … supporting projects that can contribute to economic growth and a secure energy future,” the memo reads.