Thursday, January 19, 2012

Poltical swagger, environmental victory


  Porpoises rejoice in a celebratory game of "walabanlubber," a marine game with its closest equivalent being the North American game of "bash paw." Porpoises attempt to be the first to strike each others' dorsal fins. If you're interested in something of relevance please read below.


Obama has been on a roll lately outwitting the Republican Congress. It started with the recess appointment of Richard Cordray and culminated yesterday when he denied TransCanada the permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline.  Where once, Obama seemed caught in the web of Congressional stagnation, he has really come into his own, not only showing that he is capable of sidelining an ineffective Congress, but also showing that he can take a punch and roll with it. 

The Republicans had high ground only three months ago when the State Department was left in a bind determining whether or not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The Pipeline would create somewhere in the ballpark of 6,000 jobs according to the consultant, Cardno Entrix, which performed the cost-benefit analysis and the environmental review for the State Department.  Basically the State Department, with Obama’s final approval, had to determine what was more important 6,000 new jobs or the environmental health of our nation. 

Environmentalists saw the pipeline for what it would be, game over for fight to abate climate change. Tar sands extraction is extremely detrimental to any vegetation at ground level, and the refining process itself is extremely energy and carbon intensive. Carbon emissions from tar sands are 20% more concentrated than traditional petroleum emissions. So not only were environmentalists enraged about the choice of adding another fossil fuel to our nation’s energy portfolio, we were livid as hell about the added concentration of carbon from tar sands. 

Anyhow, three months ago, our nation’s credo was jobs, jobs, jobs at all cost. It still very much is so. But, because of a bonehead political power play by Boehner and his bunch, Obama got let off the hook.  When the Republicans wanted to ex the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, Obama was in trouble. The Republicans stalled and almost killed the extension by first voting against it. But eight days before the tax cut ran out, Boehner called the Republicans back into session and voted for the two-month extension - with a few strings. 

One of the strings attached was that Obama had to make a decision about the Keystone XL pipeline before the upcoming presidential election. Here’s the stroke of genius in it all. Because the Republicans gave an arbitrary deadline on making a pipeline decision, Obama didn’t have sufficient time to make the required environmental review. Though he initially was open for suggestion from those for and against the pipeline, he now had no choice but deny the permit because he couldn’t perform an adequate review. 


If any of you watch the West Wing, what’s unfolding today is a textbook example of one side of the political spectrum getting too cocky and impatient. Instead of strangling the Democrats with grace, the Republicans just shot themselves in the foot with a huge tactical blunder. 

I love it. Finally we have a ballgame for America, not just a stymied Congress and a disenchanted citizenry.

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