President Obama was asked about Keystone XL during his year end press conference and the he responded by tearing the Republican Party’s Keystone XL lies to shreds while sending the strongest signal yet that he will veto the bill Republicans are expected to pass authorizing construction of the pipeline next month.
The president said,
At issue in Keystone is not American oil. It is Canadian oil that is drawn out of tar sands in Canada. That oil currently is being shipped out through rail or trucks and it would save Canadian oil companies and the Canadian oil industry an enormous amount of money if they could simply pipe it through the United States and all the way down to the Gulf. Once that oil gets to Gulf, it is then entering into the world market and it would be sold all around the world.
So there is no. I won’t say no. There is very little impact, nominal impact on US gas prices, what the average American consumer cares about, by having this pipeline come though. And sometimes the way this gets sold is, let’s get this oil and it’s going to come here and the implication is that it’s going to lower gas prices here in the United States. It’s not. There’s a global oil market. It’s very good for Canadian oil companies and it’s good for the Canadian oil industry, but it’s not going to be a huge benefit to US consumers. It’s not even going to be a nominal benefit to US consumers.
Obama said that the construction of the pipeline itself will probably create a couple of thousand jobs that are temporary until the construction ends. The president said that country could create hundreds of thousands of jobs if the Congress would authorize infrastructure spending instead of a few thousand temporary jobs with Keystone XL.
The big Republican lie has always been that the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline will lower gas prices and make the United States energy independent. As the president explained, it is impossible for a pipeline of Canadian oil that will be sold on the world market to lower gas prices and make the US energy independent.
The United States will get a couple of thousand temporary jobs, and a great deal of environmental risk out of the construction of the pipeline. The president called out the Republican Party’s biggest lies on the project and signaled that if Congress passes a bill authorizing the construction of Keystone XL, he will veto it.
Mitch McConnell has said that a bill authorizing the construction of Keystone XL will be the first piece of legislation that Republican controlled Senate takes up next month. Judging from the president’s remarks today, Republicans should be expecting a presidential veto.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
Good-Veto it…
Mitch knows the pipeline ain’t going anywhere. But he has to put his best foot forward since the Koch Bros, who stand to make billions if the pipeline is built, paid so handsomely for his re-election.
Also, I’ve read elsewhere that should the pipeline be built, our gasoline prices will rise. Why? Well, because they have an excuse. Also, they need to refine that tar sands oil which is more difficult to refine than the usual oil we extract from the ground, and this will take up a lot of refinery time that we can use for our gasoline. Predictable conclusion? Gasoline prices in the U.S. will rise.
I’m happy to read that the President is threatening to veto any bill the bought-and-paid-for Republicans send to his desk regarding Keystone. Dust off that veto pen, Mr. President, because you’re going to need to use it a lot after January.
I know the XL Pipeline bill will be vetoed. The GOP lie every time they open their mouths. The Democrats are not saints, they have their moments, but the XL Pipeline will probably only create permanent employment, for the top income bracket, and nobody else.
It’s the TPP that bothers me. We will loose jobs, not create them. The fact that McConnell is for it should tell Obama there is something fishy going on
Our gas is $2.24 today in MI. The lowest in years. Thank you, President Obama! (Yes, I know he has nothing to do with gas prices, but he takes the rap when they jump up, so I thought I’d thank him now that they are so low.)
And Keystone? Look at the Boehner stock holdings in TransCanada…that is why HE is so adamant about it. Money. Not America. Money for Boehner and McConnell, for the Kochs and Cheneys. Four great reasons to stop it cold!
Same as it in here in Tn, and we are usually 30 cents lower then you
Very strange
Saw on Twitter:
Roses are red,
The senate is too,
I hear the ink in the veto pen
Runs deep blue.
Veto KXL
Boom!!! You always have the best comeback.
delete
It’s $2.89 regular and $3.01 premium in Los Angeles and we’re usually the highest except for Honolulu.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-gas-prices-standing-htmlstory.html
$1.99 In Tulsa $2.01 where I am at
Rose are red,
The senate is too,
I hear the ink in the veto pen
RUNS LIBERAL BLUE
**there I fixed it
good veto it stand your ground
Gas prices will rise in the mid-west because KXL would bypass the distribution facilities near Omaha. TransCanada cited an “oversupply” of oil in the mid-west as a factor that keeps prices discounted in their 2008 application. Estimates are that fuel will rise $.20-30/gallon, meaning food production and transportation costs also rise. Basically, if you eat, KXL will cost you money. Of course, you won’t hear that on FOX.
1/2 of America is Brainwashed on Keystone & Everything! How can WE AWAKE THEM?
But Mitch says the koch have our best interests at heart!
The president knows full well this is a koch project all the way. And he knows they dont care for a second about spills because WE have to pick up the tab for them. All simply because this is not considered crude oil. In fact the stuff is so bad Canadians wont let them build the pipeline across Canada
BC won’t allow it through their province to Vancouver…which is the shortest route to a Canadian deep seaport.
$2.18 in Illinois today.
Yes, yes, yes!!!
The XL pipeline does nothing for the American people and everything for the Canadian oil industry and the Republicans in congress. Boehner, alone, stands to make millions if this goes through.
And, as Shiva said, the American taxpayer would be on the hook for the costs of the damages a spill would cause. And TransCanada has a pretty bad reputation for spills and leaks. That would account for British Columbia refusing to allow them to cross their land.
If their own province refuse to allow this pipeline across their territory, why should the America allow them to build across ours?
Even in Canada the tarsands production is slowing down because it’s just not worth their while to go through the very expensive and very dirty extraction process. Lots of layoffs going on.
The KXL is not worth it.
$2.39 in central NE.
And the land they want it on has been stolen through eminent domain, and now they are stealing land that is Indian territory, whether the Native Americans like it or not. KXL should be vetoed, and all that land given back.
Gasoline prices in Norman, OK, are $1.89 at 7-11 which is all over town. Even took a picture and posted it on Twitter!
I listened to the presidents message and I did not get that impression from him at all. It appears to me that Obama is now going along with the republicans agenda. If he does not get out his veto pen on keystone and much more of what they plan to do to the poor and the middle class, he will lose the respect of people who voted for him.
The fact that so many people believe republicon lies says that a large part of America is Ok with evil words, evil deeds, lies and deceptions. Well, if that’s the case, the next two years, with a republicon Congress, their cup shall overflow with joy due to the ungodly attacks on the less fortunate.
“Their biggest lie and offense is that they are Christians.”
Recently the CEO of Trans Canada, the company wanting Keystone XL, said that it would create approximately 9000 temporary jobs, for between 18 and 24 months. Most of these jobs would go to Canadians. In addition he said it wold create some 35 permanent jobs, spread from the Canadian border to the gulf coast. These would be pipeline inspectors and pump operators, also mostly Canadians.
All of the product pumped through the pipeline would be processed in the gulf coast refineries, and then transshipped, via the Panama Canal, to China and India. None wold be sold or distributed in the US.
Gene
In an excellent November 26 article, Coral Davenport observed that Obama will likely “leave office with the most aggressive, far-reaching environmental legacy of any occupant of the White House” even though “it is very possible that not a single major environmental law will have passed during his two terms in Washington.” The Clean Air Act of 1970 simply turns out to be a very powerful tool crafted by very ambitious legislators, who wanted to make sure future administrations would be able to address not-yet-foreseen environmental problems. He’s used that law to issue a “series of landmark regulations on air pollution, from soot to smog, to mercury and planet-warming carbon dioxide.”
Obama Builds Environmental Legacy With 1970 Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/us/without-passing-a-single-law-obama-crafts-bold-enviornmental-policy.html?_r=0
HIP, HIP, HORRAY,,,FOR THE POTUS. tHE LIES GENERATED BY THE GOP (GET OUR PROFITS) have finally been jammed down their throats. Boehner, the Koch brothers, and all the shareholder in Dc who have Canadian oil stock,,,,,AAAAAWWWWW…..
I’d pretty much say that it will be vetoed.
If their own province won’t allow this pipe line??? Big question that has never been answered.
correction ccc3 “their biggest lie and offense is that they (say) they are Christians” All talk, no action.