The president didn’t stop the Keystone XL oil pipeline — Republicans did.
That’s the message on Tuesday from White House spokesman Jay Carney as gas prices rise above $4.00 per gallon.
“The president didn’t turn down the Keystone pipeline,” Carney said, because the proposal to construct the pipeline was reviewed by the Department of State.
President Barack Obama’s decisions to nix construction of the pipeline has been repeatedly attacked by the GOP, and by some Democratic-allied unions representing construction workers. They say Obama cancelled the pipeline, and up to 20,000 well-paying jobs, to please his environmentalist supporters as the November election draws closer.
The November decision to reject the construction plan “was the result of a decision made, to honor, the concerns of those in Nebraska, including the Republican governor … [that the pipeline] would threaten the water supply in Nebraska,” Carney said.
Obama again nixed the pipeline in January after Republican leaders had attached a pipeline mandate to the year-end spending plans.
Rising gas prices threaten to derail Obama’s re-election campaign as they remind voters of the stalled economy, high unemployment and rising national debts. The pain of the rising price is especially strong in Midwest swing states where voters drive long distances between their homes, shops and work.