Reaction To Obama's Decision...

...regarding Keystone XL:

First of all, Obama's old foe, John McCain.

It’s 'legitimate' for Canada to feel snubbed by U.S. moves

"When asked if he agreed that Canadians have been snubbed by their neighbours in an interview on Global TV’s The West Block, McCain said that viewpoint was "legitimate."

"When we do things that seem to take our Canadian friends for granted and take your allegiance and friendship for granted, there’s an understandable reaction in Canada," he said while at the Halifax International Security Forum, where more than 300 politicians, academics and policy-makers from 39 countries met."

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""There’s a strong suspicion on my part and many others that this was a political decision rather than one based on the facts," he said, noting that the refusal to approve the plan appeased environmentalists across the United States."

Hmmmm. Would he say that if he were speaking somewhere else? Heavy sigh. I wish he was the president.

Nebraska's federal politicians, speak:

Politics and tar oil a bad mix, say reps

"Republican Reps. Lou Barletta and Tom Marino charge that President Barack Obama is putting politics ahead of job creation and sound energy policy by delaying a decision on whether to approve the Keystone pipeline."

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"“I am very disappointed by the president’s decision to punt on the Keystone XL pipeline project,” Barletta said. “The extended pipeline and expanded volume of energy that would move through this new system would create jobs and lower the price of energy. President Obama has put political considerations ahead of the needs of the American people and the security of the American economy.”

Barletta and Marino said they worry that if the pipeline isn’t built, the tar sands oil could be sent to China instead.

“This poorly thought decision underscores his failure to lead and makes it clear that the president’s only goal is to be re-elected,” Marino said. “In addition to creating thousands of desperately needed jobs, this pipeline would have helped diversify our nation’s energy sources and would have reduced our dependence on foreign countries, particularly unstable countries in the Middle East.”"

Texans weigh in.

Yes, we can wait, as Obama undercuts jobs rhetoric with pipeline delay

"Only last month, full of populist fervor, President Barack Obama demanded that Congress pass his job-creation bill: “We can’t wait for an increasingly dysfunctional Congress to do its job. Where they won’t act, I will.”
Obama may have been late to the game but appeared to finally get that nothing was more important to Americans than repairing the economy and bringing down persistently high unemployment. Now, as he launched his re-election campaign, he would “pivot to jobs.”

So how to explain Obama delaying a decision on the Keystone XL, a privately funded 1,660-mile pipeline to move 900,000 barrels per day of Canadian oil to refineries on Texas’ Gulf Coast? Despite clear evidence of increased American energy security and estimates of 20,000 jobs to build it and thousands more to sustain it, Obama wavered.

Caught between two core constituencies — labor unions couldn’t get the work fast enough; environmentalists were aghast — Obama flipped a coin onto its edge. He wouldn’t kill the pipeline, but three years of study and a clean bill of health from his State Department (assisted by his Environmental Protection Agency) weren’t enough?

Even with pipes warehoused in Canada waiting only for U.S. dirt to turn — the very definition of “shovel-ready” — Obama caved to environmental groups that threatened to pull funding and foot soldiers from his 2012 campaign."

And a very interesting take from Nebraska politicians. Best to direct the reader to the whole thing, rather than cut and paste relevant points. It's all interesting:

Speaker: Pipeline deal was 'Hail Mary pass'