The interview between Obama and Rob McCartney concerning the ultimate decision on the Keystone Pipeline does not give much indication on which way Obama is leaning. Opponents of the pipeline can echo Obama’s comments,
Nebraska like all across the country aren’t going to say, “We’ll take a few thousand jobs if it means that our kids are potentially drinking water that would damage their health or rich land…”
Supporters of the Keystone Pipeline are going to latch on to the fact that Obama does recognize energy independence and jobs in our sad state of the economy are crucial issues during his re-election bid. And Obama believes he can find a solution to both within the Keystone Pipeline.
The argument of job creation is also short-lived. These are temporary construction jobs. That look good for political reasons, but they do nothing to solve our unemployment woes. It’s just another bandaid on a contagious wound.
Obama: I’ll make the call on Keystone XL project
In an interview with Omaha, Nebraska station KETV’s Rob McCartney in the White House.
“The State Department’s in charge of analyzing this, because there’s a pipeline coming in from Canada. They’ll be giving me a report over the next several months, and, you know, my general attitude is, what is best for the American people? What’s best for our economy both short term and long term? But also, what’s best for the health of the American people? Because we don’t want for examples aquifers, they’re adversely affected, folks in Nebraska obviously would be directly impacted, and so we want to make sure we’re taking the long view on these issues.”
“We need to encourage domestic oil and natural gas production. We need to make sure that we have energy security and aren’t just relying on Middle East sources. But there’s a way of doing that and still making sure that the health and safety of the American people and folks in Nebraska are protected, and that’s how I’ll be measuring these recommendations when they come to me.”
McCartney asked Obama if the promise of job growth will affect his decision.
“It does, but I think folks in Nebraska like all across the country aren’t going to say to themselves, ‘We’ll take a few thousand jobs if it means that our kids are potentially drinking water that would damage their health or rich land that’s so important to agriculture in Nebraska are being adversely affected,’” Obama said, adding, “because those create jobs, and you know when somebody gets sick that’s a cost that the society has to bear as well. So these are all things that you have to take a look at when you make these decisions.”
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