Tar sands extraction in Alberta (Caterpillar)
In his much-anticipated annual speech on the economy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue
made note Thursday of the
stepped-up fight that a cohort of lobbying groups have begun over the
1,700-mile Keystone pipeline opposed by environmental advocates and backed by industry and some labor unions. If approved, the pipeline would carry oil derived from Alberta tar-sands deposits to the Texas Gulf Coast, with a few destinations along the way:
“The project has passed every environmental test,” he said of Keystone. “There is no legitimate reason to delay it.”
In late December, Donohue stated:
"If the president is serious about job creation and energy security, now it the time to act on the Keystone XL pipeline. [...] This is the perfect example of a shovel-ready project that makes sense for our economy."
As part of a deal over a payroll tax-cut extension hammered out in December, President Obama must decide by Feb. 21 whether to approve or reject the pipeline. The State Department, which is involved in the decision because the pipeline crosses international boundaries and would be built by a Canadian company TransCanada, has said two months is not enough time to understand the full implications of the project and make a reasonable decision about it. That has given pipeline opponents hope, as did Obama's choice before the payroll-tax deal to delay a decision until 2013.
Together with scores of other businesses from 12 states, the chamber's Institute for 21st Century Energy has formed the Partnership to Fuel America. Its mission? Pushing for Keystone and other North American energy projects. One key member is the American Petroleum Institute. It is running an extensive pitch for the pipeline tied to the 2012 presidential election as part of its larger "State of American Energy" campaign. API President Jack Gerard launched the campaign in a speech Jan. 4. Gerard said that if Obama does not approve the pipeline he will face "huge political consequences."
Jobs and patriotism will be a big part of the campaign. Republicans have been saying that a thumbs-down on the project would benefit China.
“President Obama says ‘we can’t wait’ for action on jobs,” [House speaker] Boehner said. “Well, Canada isn’t waiting. One way or another, a new energy pipeline will be built. The question the president and Democrats in Washington need to answer is: Would Democrats rather American workers get these Keystone jobs? Or China?”
In a conference call to reporters Wednesday, National Wildlife Federation Vice President Jeremy Symons said:
"The national Chamber of Commerce's support for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline scam" [...] indicates "again that the chamber is a pay-to-play operation that has been taken over by oil companies with the biggest profits." [...]
“Our activists are planning demonstrations in districts across the country, key swing states and back in Washington, D.C.,” said Jamie Henn, a spokesman for 350.org, the climate advocacy group that has organized anti-Keystone efforts.
Henn vowed, “Over the coming weeks, we’re going to be hammering members of Congress on the campaign contributions they’ve received from Big Oil and their subsequent support for Keystone XL.”
As part of its efforts, API began a "Vote 4 Energy" ad campaign the first week of January. The API campaign's target was clearly laid out in December to Greenpeace's PolluterWatch activists in a taped interview with an API communications director:
"This is scheduled to launch in January in a commercial on CNN, so it'll be a national spot...API—American Petroleum Institute—bought into an election package so anytime CNN does anything like covering the presidential debates, cover a caucus, anything like that, those will be the kinds of programs where the commercial is seen."
Here's one of APIs original ads followed by the spoof PolluterWatch put together and promoted here:
More like that, please.