Obama Signals America Is Closed For Business with Keystone Decision

Today, after seven long years of poorly veiled partisan obstruction, the Obama administration rejected the application from the TransCanada Corporation to continue the Keystone XL oil pipeline project. American Encore Policy Director Patrick Hedger offered the following statement:

“There is an unspoken reality to the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline project. On one hand, the president and his eco-zealot allies on the far left claim that the project would have done irreparable damage to our environment. Multiple studies, including one from the State Department, flatly disprove this claim. Advocates of the project have claimed it would create thousands of new jobs and further American energy security. These claims are largely exaggerated as well. Thus, much of the debate about Keystone XL has been dishonest and misleading.  

Here’s the real issue:

President Obama, in his press conference today, claimed that allowing Keystone XL to advance would not be ‘in the national interest’ of the United States. This disappointing statement actually reveals the true question surrounding Keystone…

Do we ask any other business in the United States if their investments are in the national interest? Do we demand mom & pop shops wait seven years for an answer from Washington? Do we shower grocery chains with vitriol when they seek to expand their operations? Do we indict our young entrepreneurs for not creating enough jobs? Do we accuse our friends and neighbors of greed and carelessness when they fill up their cars or book a plane ticket?

The real question surrounding Keystone XL is whether or not America is open for business when a Democrat is in the White House. Tragically, that answer appears to be a cowardly and shameful NO.”