Obama should just approve Keystone

Re: Obama Pads His Message On Global Warming, Jun. 26.

u.S. President Barack Obama this week said he would approve the Keystone XL project only if the net effect of the project “does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.” His hypocrisy in pretending to consider the merits of the project, while catering to the environmentalists on the left, should be clear to all.

We need to put the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in the context of overall oil pipeline construction in the united States. According to the Oil and Gas Journal, in 2013, more than 4,000 miles of crude oil and refined petroleum products pipeline will be built in the united States. More will be built next year. The Keystone pipeline, if approved, would be only a tiny part of that. The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, in its 2013 report on the economic impacts of pipeline construction, estimated the total economic impacts of new oil and natural gas pipeline projects will be immense: $260-billion in value added, $511-billion in total output and $117-billion in labour income over the period to 2035.

If Mr. Obama were to apply the conditions he placed on Keystone to other pipelines, there would be hell to pay from those Americans affected.

Bob Lyman, Nepean, Ont.

As Tim Ball, a former professor of climatology, has pointed out in an article at the American Thinker website, Barack Obama’s climate change speech is riddled with errors about man-made global warming, which has stalled for the last 15 years despite significant increases in GHG emissions.

Therefore there is no need for controlling CO2 emissions through carbon tax or trading and PM Harper should desist in introducing such regulations, which will eventually increase poverty and the ability of the poor in developing countries from improving their living conditions. Instead, Canada should set up a clean coal energy technology program that can be offered to the poor countries in Asia and Africa.

Jiti Khanna, Vancouver.

While the Oracle at delphi in ancient Greece was famous for ambiguously phrased prophecies which could show her in a good light regardless of outcome, Barack Obama’s attempts at describing his ambiguous Keystone XL pipeline review process currently show him as a spiritual oracle, who, fearing his own environmental base, appears unable to make an overdue decision.

Mr. Obama’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to southern u.S. refineries will facilitate the export of the (largely) landlocked third-largest proven oil reserves in the world.

The environmentally responsible development of Alberta’s oil sands, facilitated by the construction of Keystone XL, is in the best long-term interests of both the u.S. and Canada.

Ron Johnson, Victoria.

Barack Obama’s postponement of the Keystone XL pipeline decision opens up a tremendous opportunity for Canada to process its own oil, sell it to our eastern provinces or other countries. It’s a no-brainer. In Ontario, dalton McGuinty has already shown us the awful results of green energy sources. Why look a gift horse in the mouth?

Jonathan Usher, Toronto.