Obama Administration Delays Once Again Final Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline … Play Politics Over Jobs for Americans

Barack Obama has made promises to Americans that jobs is his number one priority, but has done everything but …

The Obama administrations has once again kicked the can of American jobs down the road in place of playing politics.  Team Obama has once again delayed the decision on the XL Keystone pipeline on Good Friday and Easter weekend.  The decision now will most likely not be made until after the November midterm elections. How convenient. This is just another attempt to humor the far left and the environmental wackos to get their campaign dollars and votes. The Weekly Standard makes a valid and important point, “if the administration wanted the pipeline built, construction would have long since been underway … Witness the numerous executive fiats regarding the implementation of Obamacare.”

The Obama administration further delayed its decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project on Friday, with no conclusion now likely until after the U.S. mid-term elections in November.

President Barack Obama has said he will have the final say on whether to allow the pipeline connecting Canada’s oil sands region to Texas refiners, and several government agencies had been given until May to weigh in. This had raised expectations of a final decision by mid-year.

But the State Department said on Friday it was extending that agency comment period, citing a need to wait until the Nebraska Supreme Court settles a dispute over what path the $5.4 billion TransCanada Corp project should take.

“That pipeline route is central to the environmental analysis for the project and if there are changes to the route it could have implications,” a senior State Department official told reporters.

UPDATE I: Keystone non-decision keeps some Democrats on the hot seat.

Politically, it seems like a great idea, since kicking Keystone down the road — probably long past November — is better than an outright rejection for vulnerable oil-state Democrats, whose voters love the proposed project. And it keeps environmentalists at bay, boosting hopes that President Barack Obama might still swing their way.

But the non-decision decision also makes life a little harder for several groups of Democratic senators and Senate candidates fighting for their lives.

Some, like Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, have yet to take a firm stance on the Alberta-to-Texas oil pipeline — and the State Department’s announcement Friday that it’s extending its review of the project removes the possibility that Obama could resolve the issue one way or another next month.

Meanwhile, pro-Keystone Democrats like Senate energy Chairwoman Mary Landrieu will face heightened pressure to take actions to match their rhetoric.

UPDATE II: Vulnerable Senate Democrat  Mary Landrieu, D-LA Speaks Out Against Keystone XL Pipeline delay.

Responded Landrieu, the newly installed chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee: “Today’s decision by the Administration amounts to nothing short of an indefinite delay of the Keystone Pipeline. This decision is irresponsible, unnecessary and unacceptable. By making it clear that they will not move the process forward until there is a resolution in a lawsuit in Nebraska, the administration is sending a signal that the small minority who oppose the pipeline can tie up the process in court forever. There are 42,000 jobs, $20 billion in economic activity and North America’s energy security at stake.” Landrieu said she plans to use her chairmanship of the Senate Energy Committee to try and move the project forward.