I want to start with the phrase made famous by Joe Friday "Just the facts, ma'am"
Just in case this starts another (in a looooooooooong series of) Obama Bashing / Defending / Praising feud (s).
President Obama is headed to Oklahoma this Thursday -- and is expected to announce the expedited approval of the southern portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline:
Citing a senior administration source, CNN reported on Tuesday that Obama wants to slash several months off a permit approval process that can ordinarily stretch on for as long as a year.
Obama ready to push partial Keystone XL approval
There is no doubt that the raising gas prices (and the accompanying Republican chorus attacking President Obama) may well be playing into this announcement as a mitigation of this issue on the upcoming General Election.
I know that this is going to disappoint the many that are concerned about the Environment (and Yes, I agree - we all should be), a la Bill McKibben:
"This is a calculated slap, and it stings," tweeted environmentalist Bill McKibben, who spearheaded high-profile White House protests against the proposed pipeline last summer.
Obama heading to Keystone XL Oklahoma site
I know that Keystone is a hot button issue. And truly, it isn't my intent to start a flame war over President Obama.
I just thought that if You hadn't heard yet about this, You might want a heads up as to what is coming - so that no matter what side You come down on either the President or the pipeline - You can start forming Your arguments ahead of time!
For my part, I don't find it at all surprising to see this going ahead. The Athabasca Tar Sands are a huge energy resource - Yes, dirty as all get out, Yes, a total environmental catastrophe in the waiting ...
The amount of money surrounding the Tar Sands and the 'importance' of 'energy security' are so enormous that much about the Tar Sands (which would include XL) were a foregone conclusion
I would ask that You try and play nice as You discuss this amongst Yourselves. Lots of 'bad guys' to go around on this