Stop the Pipeline, etc

For John, BLUF:  Sometime in the past folks laid down markers to show that President Trump was beholden to President Putin.  President Trump missed them, but President Biden is on course.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Earth to Joe Biden:  Canceling Keystone XL Pipeline Is a Gift to China and Russia

From Real Clear Energy, by Writer Daniel Turner, 19 January 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Joe Biden’s plans to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline is a gift to someone.  The radical green groups for sure: they have opposed the oil link since its inception.  The trucking and railroad industry will benefit, too, because once the pipeline is stopped, then the oil will be transported in and around America by something with wheels.  It’s also a gift to our adversaries:  for who will benefit when America and Canada can’t bring their fossil fuels to market? The competition.  Russia and Venezuela will be thrilled to know their market share will increase thanks to the Biden Administration’s fumble.

What’s fascinating about Keystone is how un-fascinating the project actually really is.  Sure, it’s a marvel of engineering and an extraordinary accomplishment of human and mechanical skills.  The 1,200 mile pipeline from Alberta, Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast carrying crude oil to be refined is a great infrastructure project.  A State Department study commissioned during the Obama Administration (when Joe Biden was Veep, a point which requires emphasis) determined the pipeline would create 3,200 temporary construction jobs directly, 42,000 additional jobs indirectly, and generate over $2 billion in wages.  For the people in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, the states through which the proposed pipeline will transverse, that’s an enormous opportunity.

Of course, it is bad for the environment and the pipeline traverses sacred lands for local Native American tribes.  As to the first, I am not sure that stopping the pipeline will stop the flow of oil.  What will our Canadian neighbors do?  Stop pumping oil because we (or a voal minority) don't like it?  I am doubtful.

However, this has larger implications.

Back in February 24, 2017, in The American Interest, Mr Walter Russell Mead wrote:

If Trump were the Manchurian candidate that people keep wanting to believe that he is, here are some of the things he’d be doing:

• Limiting fracking as much as he possibly could
• Blocking oil and gas pipelines
• Opening negotiations for major nuclear arms reductions
• Cutting U.S. military spending
• Trying to tamp down tensions with Russia’s ally Iran

These outcomes were inevitable, based upon the way the American Voters cast their ballots in November.  They will get a chance to change their minds in 2022.  Reversiung the inevitable consequences may be harder.  But, we are a Democracy, so our course is not always steady.

Exit Question:  Can Canada sue us over cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff