"President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn’t often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism — won’t even advance the goals of the groups that demanded it. All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his reelection that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes that placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances.
Aside from the political and public relations victory, environmentalists won’t get much. Stopping the pipeline won’t halt the development of tar sands, to which the Canadian government is committed; therefore, there will be little effect on global-warming emissions. Indeed, Obama’s decision might add to them. If Canada builds a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific for export to Asia, moving all that oil across the ocean by tanker will create extra emissions. There will also be the risk of added spills."
The key to understanding Obama's decision making process is to understand that he is by choice and by experience a Chicago Liberal. The Chicago Liberal view of governance is centered on power, not on policy. Policy choices are made because they cement or enhance the ruling group's power over the city, state, nation. It is fundamentally a fascist worldview. This is how Obamacare could promise to 'make healthcare affordable' while passing a system that the CBO projects will increase healthcare spending from 16 to 20 percent of GDP - it makes far more voters dependent upon the state and therefore, the party of the state. Likewise, the Keystone decision was not based upon greenery, jobs, or any other objective policy basis but upon how it would affect the ruling coalition's power. This is something that principled moderates like Robert Samuelson or David Brooks just don't understand. And until they do, things are going to get worse. A lot worse.
HT: Warren Smith
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