FOCUS: Scott Galindez | Hillary Clinton Expresses Opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline
Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News
Galindez writes: "Hillary Clinton clearly said she was opposed to the pipeline. It's what she didn't say that puzzles me."
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Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News
Galindez writes: "Hillary Clinton clearly said she was opposed to the pipeline. It's what she didn't say that puzzles me."
READ MORE
Hillary Clinton Expresses Opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline
23 September 15
residential candidate Hillary Clinton was in the middle of taking questions from attendees of a town hall meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, when a Drake University student asked her about the Keystone XL Pipeline.The former secretary of state, who oversaw the State Department’s review process for TransCanada’s application to cross the Canadian border with the pipeline designed to carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, had been hinting in recent weeks that she had taken a position on the issue.
In the past, Clinton had said she couldn’t comment on the pipeline since Secretary of State John Kerry was still reviewing the issue. That changed September 22 in Des Moines, and she expressed her position on the issue … I think. Well, she clearly said she was opposed to the pipeline. It’s what she didn’t say that puzzles me. She didn’t say that the project would have a negative impact on the environment. Instead she called it a “distraction” that was standing in the way of other issues related to global warming.
In her defense, she did say that it would not produce as many jobs as cleaning and modernizing our energy system would. She also promised to unveil a plan in the next few days for North American energy independence. It will be interesting to see where fracking fits into that plan. While I have other concerns that we will discuss it is a good thing to have Hillary Clinton on the record on the issue.
Senator Bernie Sanders issued the following statement concerning Clinton’s “new” position on the issue: “As a senator who has vigorously opposed the Keystone pipeline from the beginning, I am glad that Secretary Clinton finally has made a decision and I welcome her opposition to the pipeline. Clearly it would be absurd to encourage the extraction and transportation of some of the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet.”
Martin O’ Malley was not as kind: “On issue after issue, Secretary Clinton has followed – not forged – public opinion.”
While I agree with the senator, I also have to wonder, why now? I’m not sure the strategy to constantly delay a decision on this issue was her fault. She was serving the president, who has the ultimate responsibility to make a final decision. It does seem as if it is administration policy to continue to delay making a final decision. The Obama administration seems to be avoiding angering either the environmental movement or the Canadian government and companies that would benefit from the pipeline. Perhaps privately Secretary Clinton expressed opposition to the pipeline. I still wonder, though, why she didn’t come out against the pipeline when she had a major role on the issue. I would understand if the review process had not been delayed so many times and she could say she was waiting for all of the information. Deadlines for a recommendation from the State Department came and went often.
President Obama did deny the first proposed route, and the State Department did order studies of alternative routes, so maybe she has been on the right side of the issue all along. I would like to have seen a stronger statement than her explanation that it is a “distraction.” Nevertheless, it is a victory.
Environmentalists did not express reservations and welcomed the long-awaited announcement.
“I think she's really coming to understand that climate is going to be a defining issue of this election,”said Bill McKibben. “And maybe, if you also look at her stand on Arctic drilling, she's concluding that the most visible way to make quick progress is to keep carbon in the ground.”
Tiernan Sittenfeld, a senior vice president at the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, called Clinton’s opposition to Arctic drilling and Keystone “inspiring and exciting.”
Hillary Clinton’s opposition to the pipeline is a good thing; I look forward to seeing her plan for North American energy. Will it be bold? Or will she try to appease the oil and gas industry she sided against on this one.
Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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