Tag: oil pipeline

Canada is Not Part of the U.S.A.

Mexican Pres. Calderon, Obama, Canadian P.M. Harper at the White House          Mexican Pres. Calderon, Obama, Canadian P.M. Harper at the White House

Reported in the Toronto Star, “Ottawa has no choice but to aggressively pursue other export markets to safeguard Canada’s economy in case Keystone is rejected, PM says in Washington.”

Let’s be honest. The Keystone oil was not destined for consumption in the United States. The benefit to the USA is that there will be construction jobs for laying the pipeline, maintenance jobs for keeping the oil flowing without any leaks, and refinery jobs on the Gulf of Mexico.

The additional major benefit is that if there was an oil embargo the United States would have access to the supply.

Canada has the benefit of many natural resources. The Canadian government’s first interest is in the well being of its own people. As it should. Exporting their resources has enabled that country to thrive. For some reason Americans think that Canada owes its total existence to them and should respond to American wishes and desires at Canadian peril. Despite that belief, Canada is not part of the U.S.A.

Politics Above Jobs

Today’s Associated Press headline reads “Obama rejects Canada-Texas oil pipeline -for now.” It’s all about politics not about what is the right thing to do.

Barack Obama has made the environmentalists happy but not the country.  Those environmentalists are viewed as an important support group for re-election.  So the gamble is we will all forget about this issue by next November.

However, if the number of unemployed Americans is still high in November the GOP won’t let us forget.  Those supporting the pipeline are furious and they should be.

 A $7 billion pipeline from Canada to our gulf coast will result in thousands of jobs.  That pipeline will help reduce our dependency on Arab oil.  Concerns about water pollution can be over come with some re-routing of the pipe.

This project was originally proposed when George W. Bush was president.  To contend now that the government has not had sufficient time to review possible side effects is ludicrous. Barack Obama is on the wrong side of an important issue.  He deserves to be attacked for this decision.