Keystone XL Pipeline -- What the Left is Saying

Since president Obama killed the Keystone XL pipeline project yesterday and killed the hundred thousand or so jobs that the project would have created, I have been wondering whether or not there was something that I was missing. As I wrote yesterday, the project creates 20,000 construction jobs immediately. It also creates permanent jobs which have been estimated to be as many as 340,000, but which are certainly more than 100,000. It brings 800,000 barrels of oil to the USA each day from a very secure source (Canada) and cuts the need for imports from places like Venezuela, Iran and elsewhere that are unfriendly to the USA. It has this oil refined at the least polluting refineries in the world rather than in those in China which spew much more pollution per barrel. And there seems to be no other side to the argument.

In order to see what I must be missing, I read the article in the Huffington Post by self described "environmental activist" Robert Redford extoling Obama for standing up to "Big Oil". Here is what Redford says: 1) The pipeline is not a jobs plan -- we need a national jobs plan. Translation: jobs created by the private sector cannot count as a jobs plan; only somethiing that the government does can matter on that score. 2) "Economic security is to be found in clean energy not in dirty energy that threatens us with oil spills and ever worsening harm from climate change." Translation: no project that deals with fossil fuels should ever be built again. Those of you with cars that need gasoline can go "F" yourselves. 3)"Energy security comes from reducing our dependence on oil, not from a pipeline that would leave us with the risk but send the tar sands oil overseas." Translation: we do not care whether or not the American economy runs on oil and natural gas; we need to stop bringing those fuels into the country. 4)"The president stood up to Big Oil and listened to Americans saying: 'We're done with fossil fuel schemes...'" This one needs no translation; Redford is correct. Obama has joined the group that says "To hell with oil and gas. If you have a car or a home or a business that needs oil or gas, well, it is just too damn bad!"

After reading Redford's article, I think it is clearer than ever that Obama has sided with the environmental crazies on this one.