Iran and Brazil Hand Obama Keystone Cover

Obama has just been handed two gifts that should allow him to approve the project under circumstances that only the hardest-core lefties would hold against him -- and would quiet the GOP in the process.

President Obama's Keystone pipeline indecision puts him square between two opposing voices: One one side, he wants to hand an election-year victory for his far-left supporters in the green movement who oppose the project; but that indecision opens him to criticism from the GOP who see the pipeline as a supply of jobs and non-Mid East oil.

After facing a wave of protest from environmentalists opposed to the project, the State Department announced in November that it would explore a new route for the pipeline and pushed a final decision on the controversial project past the 2012 election.

"The president won't stand up to his political base even in the name of creating American jobs," said House Speaker John Boehner.

Obama is -- surprisingly -- blaming the Republicans for imposing a deadline, rather than allow Obama to put the decision off until after the 2012 election.

"This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people," Obama said.

The battle seems to be over a relatively short section of the pipeline that would pass through Nebraska, too close to ground water resources for some. Obama claims that the government needs more time to research the project, despite the fact that the government has known about the project since 2008.

In announcing the decision, President Obama said the government did not have enough time to review the oil pipeline...

And, despite the fact that Obama's own state department issued a report that seems to support the current route.

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline route through the Sand Hills is as good as any when it comes to safety and environmental impact, according to a federal report released Friday.

The central finding of the examination — that the proposed pipeline would have little adverse impact on the environment —

But the report also provided ammunition for those on the other side, who say a high-pressure, 36-inch crude-oil pipeline presents an unreasonable risk to the groundwater beneath the Sand Hills, which provides 78 percent of the state's drinking water and 83 percent of its water for crop irrigation.

Fortunately, Obama has just been handed two gifts that should allow him to approve the project under circumstances that only the hardest-core lefties would hold against him -- and would quiet the GOP in the process.

1. Iran's threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

2. Brazil's decision to sell its oil to China.

Iran has been threatening for weeks to militarily close the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel in the Red Sea where 15 million barrels of oil pass each day. The European Union's decision to boycott Iranian oil has only raised the stakes.

(Iranian Lawmaker Mohammad Ismail) Kowsari claimed that in case of the strait's closure, the U.S. and its allies would not be able to reopen the route, and warned America not to attempt any "military adventurism."

Given the threat, Obama has a golden pass to green light the pipeline, in the interests national security. Obama should immediately call Iran's bluff; if Iran is going to squeeze the supply of oil through Hormuz, Obama should announce that we have no choice but to find other sources. The US cannot re-open the route? OK; the oil sands of Canada will suit us just fine.

Iran has also been reportedly pressuring the Saudis into limiting the supplies of oil to the West. All the more reason to open the spigots on this side of the globe.

As that drama unfolds, Brazil has apparently decided to sell most of its newly drilled oil to China, much to the dismay of the Obama administration, who has been a huge supporter of Brizil's oil drilling goals.

President Barack Obama has suffered the second embarrassment over oil imports within the space of a week. Brazil, whose offshore deposits of oil were sought by the Obama administration, has signed contracts with China for the product.

Here again, Obama is handed a perfect excuse to reverse course on the pipeline decision. Conditions on the ground have changed. Obama can simply announce that his initial decision to not decide until 2013 was based in part on his expectation of Brazilian oil coming here. Since Brazil has opted to sell to China, Obama could plead that he has no other choice but to allow the pipeline.

Obama has to know that the jobs, whatever the number, will help; even if that help is only a political victory.

"I'm disappointed that Republicans in Congress forced this decision, but it does not change my administration's commitment to American-made energy that creates jobs and reduces our dependence on oil."

One commenter to the New York Post said it well:

Never has a president governed so transparently in his own best interests at the expense of the good of his country.

Obama has been handed a gift, two gifts, that should allow him to drop his pander to the far-left and (finally!) live up to his promise to create jobs. Simply approve the project with the caveat that an alternative route through Nebraska be found, allowing work to begin on other sections of the pipe.


Why do I think this is a gift he won't accept?