Broad-based Congressional Support for Keystone Gives Obama Cover

Ken Silverstein | Mar 21, 2013

Bipartisan efforts to bypass presidential authority now needed to sign off on the Keystone XL Pipeline has positive ramifications for the project. Both the U.S. House and Senate have popular bills pending that would allow the controversial line to go through based on the U.S. Department of State’s previous approval.

The State Department, in fact, has Okayed the 1,200-mile line that would stretch from Alberta, Canada down through Texas where Canadian tar sands would be refined. When a portion of that route had to get approval from the folks in Nebraska this year, officials there went through the process again -- and, again, they arrived at the same conclusion. That’s cleared the way for President Obama to either say “yes” or say “no,” which he is supposed to do by August.

This decision, undoubtedly, will be among the most contentious he has had to make since coming to office. This deal has been framed as the “line in the sand” in the fight against climate change. Problem is, those gooey tar sands are going to be drilled out of the ground and sent somewhere -- either to Asia by tankers or to the United States via the pipeline. Better to get the oil from Canada than Saudi Arabia or Venezuela, the thinking goes.

Beyond that, the president has already said that the line’s southern leg could go through. He said that the part that goes from Cushing, Okla. to the Gulf of Mexico would be a “priority.” The intended purpose of this portion is to ease the current congestion but both proponents and critics alike admit that it would also be used to transport those Canadian tar sands that are said to be more corrosive than other kinds of oil. That would, perhaps, increase the potential for pipeline leaks.

In October 2011, President Obama deferred any final decision on the line’s northern segment until Nebraska did its thing. It was a ploy to avoid having to make a decision until after the November 2012 election. Now, the president is stuck: He’s emphasized climate change as a priority while also dealing with near-$4 gasoline and a nation that needs to create new jobs. Construction of the line would offer thousands of them, and require $7 billion in invested capital.

The bills pending in both the House and Senate would either force the president to decide on the line sooner or it would give him a way out. The measure could pass the Republican-led House and it is reported to have more than 50 votes in the Senate, although it would need 60 to overcome the expected stall tactics.

“It's been over four years and thousands of pages of environmental reviews,” says Rep. Terry Lee, R-Neb. “The experts have weighed in. Now is the time to build the Keystone Pipeline. If we see further delays as we have in the past; Congress is ready to act.”

Time to Pivot

If battling climate change is paramount here, President Obama should reject the line and insist on the immediate development of alternatively-fueled vehicles: all-electric and natural gas. But he’s already doing that, and has just proposed to allow the oil companies more access to federal lands in exchange for additional monies to be used to reduce foreign oil dependence by half by 2020.

He’s also directed his U.S. Environmental Protection to restrict the level of carbon dioxide emissions that power plants can release to 1,000 tons per megawatt hour. That will prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration abilities. Existing ones, meanwhile, will have to add new scrubbing technologies.

In other words, Obama already has credibility with the green groups. Now he has to pivot and put job creation on the same platform. He should therefore remain consistent and endorse the whole Keystone pipeline -- just as he has done with other cross-border lines, as well as the southern segment of Keystone.

While the environmental movement would give him a tongue lashing, the administration would nonetheless get some credit for putting people to work, which would appease the labor unions. Meantime, the State Department said first in August 2011 that the project could move forward with minimal environmental harm, noting that the overall carbon emissions would not be much greater than those of other heavy crude oils that the United States currently refines.

TransCanada has all the permits it needs to begin building in July the southern half of its Keystone XL Pipeline. To jumpstart the northern half, Congress will take up in May its twin measures to bypass the presidential approval process. While the Senate effort won’t likely survive a filibuster, the two bills are expected to win solid majorities in both chambers. That broad-based endorsement will give President Obama the cover he needs to grant his approval.

EnergyBiz Insider has been awarded the Gold for Original Web Commentary presented by the American Society of Business Press Editors. The column is also the Winner of the 2011 Online Column category awarded by Media Industry News, MIN. Ken Silverstein has been honored as one of MIN’s Most Intriguing People in Media.

Twitter: @Ken_Silverstein

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