January 18th, 2012

Focusing Like A "Cheap Pen-Light" On Jobs: Barack The Jobslayer Destroys 100,000 Pipeline Jobs With "NO"

Posted by: Barry Secrest
Published on January 18th, 2012 @ 03:32:04 pm , using 618 words

Posted in Events and Issues: Credible Resources

Foxnation

The State Department has decided to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, industry sources tell Fox News, suggesting that the department will say 60 days is inadequate time to do the required environmental impact assessment on the path of the coveted pipeline. One source said the announcement could come as early as Wednesday.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in her afternoon briefing that she had nothing to share. "As of 30 seconds before I walked in, it was my understanding that a decision had not yet been made," she said.

But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney would not say whether a decision had been made or not. "I'm not going to get ahead of the administration," Carney said, adding that he may have more information later in the day.

While not confirming that a decision has been made, Carney blamed Republicans for putting "in jeopardy" the entire process. Republicans added a provision into the short-term payroll tax cut extension last year that compelled the Obama administration to make a decision on the pipeline in two months.

"In a purely partisan effort to score a political point, Republicans in Congress insisted on inserting an extraneous provision within a bill that had nothing to do with pipelines," Carney said, adding that the "arbitrary deadline" made an adequate review "virtually impossible."

For three years, the State Department has been reviewing the initial proposal to run a pipeline from Canada down to Texas through a sensitive Nebraska aquifer -- authority it has because of the transnational path the route takes. The pipeline had been through several other federal, state and local approvals, but the department backed away from signing off on the plan last year after environmentalists complained.

Industry workers and Republicans contend the project would create thousands of jobs, and Canada's prime minister has warned if the U.S. can't get on board, the North American nation will look to team with China.

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Keystone Pipeline Delay Sparks Outrage on Capitol Hill

By John Parkinson, ABC NEWS

House Speaker John Boehner this morning pressed President Obama to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, as the president is expected to block a permit to proceed on the pipeline — possibly as soon as this afternoon.

The speaker said the project would “create 100,000 new jobs,” and he warned that further delay on a decision about whether to go forward on the project could result in losing out to China.

“The Keystone Pipeline has been through three years and it’s passed every approval process as required by the law. Even the president’s own State Department has indicated that this thing ought to move forward,” Boehner said. “The Canadians are in conversations with the Chinese, and if we don’t build this pipeline to bring that Canadian oil and pick up the North Dakota oil and deliver it to our refineries in the Gulf Coast, that oil is gonna get shipped out to the Pacific Ocean and will be sold to the Chinese.”

“This is not good for our country,” he continued. “The president wants to put this off until it’s convenient for him to make a decision. That means after the next election. The fact is the American people are asking the question right now: Where are the jobs? The president’s got an opportunity to create 100,000 new jobs almost immediately. The president should say yes.”

Read the full story here