The Republican attack on the President regarding the loss of jobs with the rejection of the KeystoneXL pipeline, was nothing short of hypocritical. Their ‘spin’ doesn’t include the fact that more jobs will probably be created if the pipeline was approved; what they don’t say is that those jobs will most likely be in the field of “oil recovery and clean up” after the pipeline has it’s first accident that destroys water supplies in the pipeline area. Are those the kind of jobs we really want to create? Is that the kind of environmental damage we want to turn a blind eye to? Apparently, the Republicans are more driven by oil company executives than they are for the safety of America, including our future generations. Wasn’t it the Republicans who wanted to protect future generations from inheriting the budget deficit? Why are they willing to sacrifice those generations for immediate profits? I think we all know the answer to that question!
President Made the Right Decision
The President made a reasoned and reasonable decision when he instructed the State Department to deny the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. This project has the high potential to endanger the environment, and the impact on the public health needed a thorough review. However, Congressional Republicans demanded a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision within sixty (60) days (an untenable deadline).
Time is needed to determine the consequences of the proposed 1700-mile pipeline, which would run through one of the Midwest’s major sources of drinking water. A thorough safety review is necessary before giving the go-ahead to this project.
Natural resources must be developed in a responsible fashion. To that end, the President has taken steps to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, including:
* Importing 1.1 million fewer barrels of oil daily
* Increasing wind and solar power by 70 percent
* Supporting over 200,000 clean energy jobs
In addition, fuel economy standards for automobiles and light trucks have been raised, in order to decrease our use of oil for transportation.
Decisions such as this, which have long-term consequences for the environment and for our and our children’s health, cannot be made arbitrarily and without adequate study beforehand.
Carol Ann Ellis
Ron Pagano's Delmarva Progressive 
Comments on: "Obama Made The Right Decision!" (3)
My son in law is involved with the trucking end of fragging, If you knew how it was done you wouldn’t feel the same way. The process is as safe as any drill method. The liquid is backfilled with the water solution that moves the oil towards the pump. I’m all for protection of the future for my grandchildren. We have differing opinions and we will have to agree to disagree.
I have always thought that oil drilling was bad until I relocated to Oklahoma and have become involved with the oil news. There are numerous companies involved with the oil industry that are not oil specific such as trucking, environmental transport, pipe makers etc. Further I have been immersed in the news on the new technology. There have been significant movement into the environmentally friendly drilling for not just oil but natural gases which can really only be obtained one of a few earth scaring ways. The oil industry does deserve its bad rap in many cases however not every company is Haliburton. The Midwesteners are familiar with the impacts of oil and natural gas drilling. Their livelihood is based on it. Instead of being totally against it perhaps a meeting of the minds would be a better approach. I’m not a republican nor will I ever be but if we keep saying no not here then where.
I think the issue is not, “if not here, then where”, but, in what ways can we access energy without sacrificing the health of our descendants? We are an industrial nation…we need energy…how do we get it? “Fragging” is not an environmentally-friendly approach. There is new research showing that fragging is actually causing earthquakes in areas that had few or none before. (i.e. the Midwest) Ohio is suspending it until further research is in. I, for one, am not ready to approve “oil at any cost.” We need to move toward “green energy” alternatives, faster than we have been. The oil industry, just as the auto industry, fails to adopt new technology and change, until they are on the brink of catastrophe. The auto industry learned the hard way, that they had to change and start using new technologies (something they weren’t keen on doing), in order to climb back from the abyss. As a result, the last 3 years have seen higher mpg, and new implementation of hybrid technology. THAT’S what we need to see in the oil & gas industry…without the destruction of our air, water and land.