Vast Majority of US Favours Keystone XL Pipeline

Demonstrating again that Obama is out of touch with the American electorate, Rasmussen reports an overwhelming majority of likely voters are in favour of the Keystone XL oil pipeline that will stretch from Canada to Texas.

Sixty percent (60%) of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor building the pipeline which President Obama has delayed until at least 2013 because of environmental concerns. Just 24% are opposed. Sixteen percent (16%) are not sure.

This is after Obama declared that he will punt on a decision about building the pipeline until after the election in 2012, caving into the environmental wing of the Left.  These same environmentalists claim safety concerns, lest there be a leak that could damage what they claim to be sensitive areas.  This is in spite of the fact that there are tens of thousands of miles of oil pipelines already in existance. 

There are those who say that this comes at the cost of support from the labour unions who would be involved in the construction of the pipeline, but this belies the fact that traditional unions of workers who are actually productive – those involved in the trades or construction – have the smallest population of such workers and thus the smallest impact (in numbers and money funneled to the Democrats) than they have ever had in history.  Unions now are dominated by government and service employees.

Obama is perfectly happy to keep America’s energy capability in a penurious state, refusing to allow any moves to help achieve energy independence.  The Democrat position is that we should continue to rely on oil shipped in from overseas, from countries that do not have our best interests at heart.  Or we should send funding to Brasil to improve their industry and exploration so that we can spend even more money to buy their oil.

Canada is left with the choice of waiting for the Americans to possibly come to their senses someday, or instead selling their oil to China, at a far greater impact on the environment.

Dr Charles Krauthammer always explains it well:

Obama’s decision was meant to appease his environmentalists. It’s already working. The president of the National Wildlife Federation told [The Washington Post] that thousands of environmentalists who were galvanized to protest the pipeline would now support Obama in 2012. Moreover, a source told The Post, Obama campaign officials had concluded that “they do not pick up one vote from approving this project.”

Sure, the pipeline would have produced thousands of truly shovel-ready jobs. Sure, delay could forfeit to China a supremely important strategic asset — a nearby, highly reliable source of energy. But approval was calculated to be a political loss for the president. Easy choice.

It’s hard to think of a more clear-cut case of putting politics over nation. This from a president whose central campaign theme is that Republicans put party over nation, sacrificing country to crass political ends.

At a time when jobs in America is the most important item on the public's political checklist, Obama and the Democrats are intent on ensuring that thousands of potential construction jobs are left lingering.