KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE AND 2014 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS: OPPORTUNITY FOR OBAMA TO RETRIEVE HIS OWN RELEVANCE FOR DEMOCRATS

Pro-Democrat TV channel MSNBC stated on its website on 10 February 2014 the following:

........Perhaps the top reason why Republicans have a realistic shot at winning back the Senate is the GOP-leaning playing field. They’re taking on Democrats Mark Begich in Alaska, Mark Pryor in Arkansas, Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, and Kay Hagan in North Carolina -- all states President Obama lost in 2012. Not surprisingly, Politico reports that these incumbents don’t want the president to campaign for them this year…..

Mark Begich, Mark Pryor, Mary Landrieu, and Kay Hagan do not want Barack Obama (BO) to campaign for them not because BO lost these states in 2012, but because of BO’s opposition to Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline project. These four senators joined the Canadian Ambassador to US, labor union leaders and others last week to express support for this project. These four senators are completely frustrated with BO’s dithering, foot dragging on this issue and spineless countenance towards the so-called environmentalists opposed to this project.

Heidi Heitkamp (Democrat-ND) is reported to have said: “We have been waiting 5 years. We fought a world war and defeated the Nazis in less time than we have been waiting to have a determination on the Keystone Pipeline..” Such is the frustration of the Democrats. And, rightly so! They know that BO’s genuflection in front of a motley group of fanatical anti-KXL people can very well ruin their chances in 2014 congressional elections.

The most important point that makes any dithering on KXL utterly foolish and un-called for is the US State Department’s report on environmental impact assessment – published in January 2014 – which puts at rest all doubts if this pipeline would “significantly exacerbate climate change”. To start with, it required a huge amount of stupidity to conceive that a pipeline carrying only 830,000 bbl/day of bitumen could “significantly exacerbate climate change”. Moreover, it is widely accepted that Canada has well defined set of regulations in regard to environment protection which makes climate change related doubts appear more foolish or driven by some agenda.

Further, the above cited State Department report also mentioned about the fairly big number of direct and indirect job that would be created by KXL project and the economic benefits that would accrue to US. Not only this, the scare mongering created by anti-KXL group about pipeline leakage has also been addressed by the Report. All in all, there does not seem to be any logical reason to not approve this project.

Now, there is a 90 day period (from the date of publication of report which works out to 1^st week of May 2014) to carry out ‘benefits assessment’ of this project, and then State Department would convey its recommendation to the President after which BO is supposed to give his decision – he may approve, or he may punt it further down the road on some pretext. But whatever decision he makes, it would be before the 2014 congressional elections in which Republicans are hoping to wrest majority in Senate by defeating the four Democrat senators mentioned at the top and gaining couple of other senate seats.

If BO dithers again on KXL and does not approve the project, it would mean a solid nail in the coffin of chances of winning of the said four senators. If Democrats lose Senate (and they already do not have control of House of Representatives), it would mean BO will be virtually relegated to the sidelines in the form of a ‘lame duck’ president for the rest of his presidency. The Republicans would make sure that he does not make headway on any policy issue that he proposes; in short, his political life would become miserable.

Would Obama like to be an outcast within his own party for the rest of his presidential term? Would he like to be portrayed as a pusillanimous person who could not stand up to the agenda-driven so-called environmentalists and scheming, manipulative persons, like, Tom Steyer? BO seems to possess tenacity and stubbornness but stubbornness for a just cause is understandable – stubbornness for something illogical and foolish endangers that very person and his surroundings. Hope BO would let rationality triumph over foolish stubbornness!!