Article: Keystone XL/Government Shutdown
Source: NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/us/republicans-see-keystone-pipeline-as-a-card-to-play-in-last-minute-fiscal-talks.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Republicans See Keystone Pipeline as a Card to Play in Last-Minute Fiscal Talks
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Protesters in New York last week rallied against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf.
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
Published: September 24, 2013
WASHINGTON — As a possible government shutdown looms, environmental activists who oppose construction of the Keystone XL pipeline say they are increasingly alarmed that the project might become a bargaining chip in last-minute negotiations between Republicans and President Obama to avert a fiscal crisis.
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If built, the 1,700-mile pipeline would carry millions of gallons of crude oil from Alberta in Canada to American refineries on the Gulf Coast. Because it crosses an international border, the pipeline requires approval by Mr. Obama’s administration after a review by the State Department. Mr. Obama has repeatedly said he would not make a decision until that process was complete.
But Republicans who support the pipeline have already signaled that they intend to demand approval of a permit for its construction in exchange for their willingness to support Mr. Obama and raise the nation’s debt ceiling next month.
“We feel like this is our only option,” said Representative Lee Terry, a Nebraska Republican who is one of the leading pipeline supporters. Mr. Terry said members of his party were working to draft legislative language that would “deem” the pipeline to be approved if an agreement is reached to raise the debt ceiling.
The pipeline could become an issue even earlier as lawmakers wrangle to avoid a shutdown by next Tuesday.
“Even though this threat is patently absurd, we are of course taking it seriously,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, a senior vice president at the League of Conservation Voters, which opposes the pipeline. She said Republicans “feel like now is their opportunity on a must-pass bill. It’s a really cynical, disturbing view of how government should function.”
Environmentalists say they are cautiously optimistic that Mr. Obama will not yield to pressure from the pipeline’s supporters in Congress, including some in the president’s own party. But Mr. Obama has left his views on the pipeline murky, refusing to say whether he plans to approve it or not. And with the stakes of a shutdown or a debt default so high, opponents of the pipeline remain on edge.
“Our entire campaign has been premised that the president will make good on his promises and rhetoric on climate change,” said Dan Kessler, a spokesman for 350.org, a group waging a campaign against construction of the pipeline. “We don’t expect him to cede any of that control to crazy Republicans.”
But Mr. Kessler added, “This is going to be another test of his leadership and commitment.”
Mr. Obama has said flatly that he will not negotiate with Republicans about what he sees as the imperative to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic default on America’s obligations. But White House officials say they are willing to have discussions about the budget to avoid a government shutdown — although they say the pipeline should not be part of those talks.
Mr. Obama has repeatedly resisted efforts by Republicans to force him to speed up the approval process for the pipeline. During the 2012 election campaign, Mr. Obama faced blasts of criticism from pipeline supporters, including Mitt Romney, his Republican opponent, who said he should make a decision quickly and insisted that the pipeline project would help create American jobs.
Earlier this year, environmentalists expected that Mr. Obama would approve the pipeline. But in a speech at Georgetown University in June, Mr. Obama made it clear that he would approve the pipeline only if the reviews concluded that it did not “significantly exacerbate” the amount of carbon in the environment. “The net effects of the pipeline’s impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward,” he said then. “It’s relevant.”
On Tuesday, White House officials said Republicans were playing politics with the environment. “The president has demonstrated his fidelity to the State Department finishing its review, as part of the transparent and rigorous process that will determine whether the pipeline is in the best interests of the United States,” said Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman. “That’s how this merit-based determination will be made.”
But lawmakers like Mr. Terry, who is leading the effort among House Republicans to get the pipeline built, are impatient. “The majority of us in the House feel the president is doing everything he can to avoid moving this issue one way or another,” he said.
Mr. Terry said Republicans intended to press hard on the pipeline and would only give in on raising the debt ceiling if Mr. Obama made a clear deal on constructing the pipeline. “It couldn’t just be some commitment” by the president to look at the issue, Mr. Terry said. “There’s not a lot of trust on our side of the aisle,” he said. “It would have to be something rock solid, that the pipeline would be built.”
In his first term, Mr. Obama largely backed off legislative efforts to combat climate change even as he pushed tougher emissions standards for automobiles. Since being re-elected, the president has become more aggressive. Last week he announced new rules that would allow the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from newly built power plants.
But the pipeline decision has become a cause for environmentalists, who say the pipeline would provide a reason for Canadian companies to extract huge amounts of oil from the Alberta tar sands. They argue that stopping the pipeline would limit the oil extracted and reduce carbon emissions from its use.
“It doesn’t make any sense to take a big step forward with auto efficiency and the carbon regs, and then take a big step backwards with Keystone,” Mr. Kessler said.
Supporters of the pipeline say its approval would create thousands of jobs during construction and operation. They also argue that Canadian companies will find a way to extract the oil even if the American pipeline is not built, undermining any environmental benefits that might exist.
Mr. Terry said that construction of the pipeline would help free the United States from dependence on oil from the Middle East. If Mr. Obama approves the pipeline as a concession to Republicans, Mr. Terry argued, environmentalists, who are historically among his most ardent supporters, might look the other way.
“This gives him an out,” Mr. Terry said. “It would have to be him allowing the big, bad Republicans to hold hostage the economy for the pipeline. I don’t care what language he uses as long as he signs the bill.”
Mr. Obama’s supporters say they do not expect that to happen.
“This is too important an issue to simply toss in the towel on it,” said Representative Henry Waxman, a Democrat from California who is an ardent opponent of the pipeline. “He wants to leave a legacy of dealing with the climate change matter and not kicking that urgent issue down the road.”
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