Keystone Developers Demand $15 Billion in Reparations

Epoch Times, Keystone XL Pipeline Developer Seeks $15 Billion in Damages From US

Energy company TC Energy has said it’s seeking $15 billion in damages from the United States government over President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline project.

In a statement on July 2, the Canada-based company said it had filed a notice of intent with the State Department to begin a legacy North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

The company said it aims to “recover economic damages resulting from the revocation of the Keystone XL Project’s Presidential Permit,” adding that it suffered a loss of more than $15 billion “as a result of the U.S. Government’s breach of its NAFTA obligations.”

The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.

Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that halted the Keystone Pipeline project, saying the move was part of his administration’s larger agenda to tackle a projected climate crisis.

They should win, but they probably won't. And liberals should be made to pay, liberally.  But they won't.

Reason #6381 that Trump was Elected

U.S. Oil Output Tops 12 Million Barrels a Day for First Time

U.S. crude output soared to new heights in April, highlighting OPEC’s dilemma just days before the producer group meets amid growing geopolitical threats.

A government report on Friday showed U.S. production grew 2.1% in April to 12.16 million barrels a day. Booming shale production from places like the Permian basin of West Texas have enabled U.S. oil output to overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia. At the same time, trade disputes and escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf have clouded the outlook for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is expected to extend current output cuts next week.

“It really means that OPEC has to make a decision to balance the market or shale will do it for them,” said Jim Lucier, managing director of Washington, D.C.-based Capital Alpha Partners LLC. “Despite all the talk about Wall Street forcing capital discipline, we’re not seeing any diminishing production yet.”

Crude output from the Permian is expected to jump 50% by 2025, according to BloombergNEF. ESAI Energy forecasts crude and condensate from the Bakken, another prolific play, will surpass record output into next year.

This may not be entirely fair; US oil production was rising under Obama too, though largely against the meddling of his administration. Under Trump, the oil industry has continued to flourish. Most of the oil contributing to this comes for "tight" oil, which is to say, oil for which fracking is needed to extract it.

U.S. field production of crude oil, by source, 1860-2014

U.S. Accounts For 98% Of All Global Oil Production Growth

But we still have a way to go. US oil usage averages 19 million barrels a day.

Get Fracking!

Linked by Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links.

Reason #5583 That Trump Was Elected

Trump to Call for U.S. ‘Dominance’ in Global Energy Production

Donald Trump will tout surging U.S. exports of oil and natural gas during a week of events aimed at highlighting the country’s growing energy dominance.

The president also plans to emphasize that after decades of relying on foreign energy supplies, the U.S. is on the brink of becoming a net exporter of oil, gas, coal and other energy resources.
. . .
With “Energy Week,” Trump is returning to familiar territory -- and to the coal, oil, and gas industries on which he’s already lavished attention. Trump’s first major policy speech on the campaign trail, delivered in the oil drilling hotbed of North Dakota in 2016, focused on his plans for unleashing domestic energy production. The issue has also been a major focus during Trump’s first five months in office, as he set in motion the reversal of an array of Obama-era policies that discourage both the production and consumption of fossil fuels.

Remember when Preznit Obama said "we can't just drill our way to lower gas prices?" Turns out we can. All we have to do is stay out of the way of domestic oil producers. It helps other industries too, for which oil is a feedstock: The Shale Revolution's Staggering Impact in Just One Word: Plastics

That boom in drilling has expanded the output of oil and gas in the U.S. more than 57% in the past decade, lowering prices for the primary ingredients Dow Chemical Co. uses to make tiny plastic pellets. Some of the pellets are exported to Brazil, where they are reshaped into the plastic pouches filled with puréed fruits and vegetables.

Tons more will be shipping soon as Dow completes $8 billion in new and expanded U.S. petrochemical facilities mostly along the Gulf of Mexico over the next year, part of the industry's largest transformation in a generation.

The scale of the sector's investment is staggering: $185 billion in new U.S. petrochemical projects are in construction or planning, according to the American Chemistry Council. Last year, expenditures on chemical plants alone accounted for half of all capital investment in U.S. manufacturing, up from less than 20% in 2009, according to the Census Bureau.

Integrated oil firms including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC are racing to take advantage of the cheap byproducts of the oil and gas being unlocked by shale drilling. The companies are expanding petrochemical units that produce the materials eventually used to fashion car fenders, smartphones, shampoo bottles and other plastic stuff being bought more and more by the world's burgeoning middle classes.

Jobs, jobs, jobs. And as a bonus, the more oil we produce, the weaker Russia's hand in global affairs.

Wombat-socho chimes in with "Late Night With Rule 5 Monday: All-American Catgirl".

Reason #5559 That Trump Was Elected

Despite the left’s best efforts, the Dakota Access Pipeline is now delivering oil

Protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline became an international news story last year. Progressives around the country rallied to the cause and held marches around the country. Over a million dollars was raised on social media to support the main protest camp and thousand of people traveled to remote Cannonball, North Dakota to become part of the effort to block the final mile of the nearly 1,200-mile long pipeline.

Protesters battled police on land and in the water and over several months hundreds, mostly from out of state, were arrested. One woman faces 10 years in jail for (allegedly) firing a gun toward police officers.

The Obama administration came to the protesters’ rescue when Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy overruled the Army Corps of Engineers recommendation that the pipeline be approved. Instead, she announced a new environmental study which would have taken up to two years to complete. The new study was officially announced just a couple days before President-elect Trump took office.

These transparently political moves were cheered by progressives, but not for long. On February 7th the Trump administration ended the new study and approved construction of the final stretch of pipeline. A few weeks later the main protest camp was cleared out by police. It cost over a million dollars to clean up the mess protesters left behind and prevent it from washing into the river they were supposedly there to protect. Dogs and puppies left behind at the frozen camp were also rescued.

A court challenge brought by the Native American tribes failed a few weeks later. Not all of the anti-pipeline protesters were content to go along with the rule of law. There were acts of sabotage in a few locations and some arson as well. Meanwhile, the pipeline was completed and being filled with oil.

Thursday, despite all the time, money and media savvy the left could throw at it, the Dakota Access Pipeline began making oil deliveries to customers.

Forget the chaos in Washington D.C. Trump is getting things done where it counts.

When Environmentalists Go Bad

Fire near Dakota Access Pipeline site ruled arson

You wouldn’t know it from the coverage by the major media but there have been numerous acts of sabotage including arson directed at the Dakota Access Pipeline over the past year. The lastest one happened Thursday in Newell, Iowa. The Pilot Tribune reports it caused nearly $150,000 in damage:

A fire on a Dakota Access pipe-line site near Newell Thursday night has been ruled an arson.
About $70,000 damage was done to a contractor-owned skid loader that was set on fire, and $75,000 to pipeline equipment. The fire, in a field near 180th Avenue north of Highway 7, was reported around 9:20 p.m. Newell firefighters responded, sheriff’s officials were immediately called in to investigate.

Last year, a similar fire caused up to $2.5 million in damage. The Pilot Tribune reported last November:

Six different pieces of heavy equipment were set on fire at 640th Street, a short distance off Highway 7. Investigation is continuing – no arrests have been made yet, but local and FBI officials are looking into whether there may be ties to other Dakota Access arsons elsewhere in the state, Buena Vista County Sheriff Kory Elston said.
Four excavators valued at approximately $400,000 each were considered a total loss, and a $600,000 bulldozer and $400,000-$600,000 side boom were also damaged.

The incident was determined to be arson and the FBI was involved in the investigation, but no one was ever arrested or charged in the case. The November arson took place about 4 miles from the one that happened last week.

These are not the only incidents of arson connected to the pipeline project. Last October, fires were also set near Reasnor, Iowa, causing up to $2 million in damage. At the time, the company behind the pipeline offered a $100,000 reward for information on the arson. There had also been a previous arson incident in the same location in August.

In March of this year, the company that built the pipeline reported two incidents of sabotage in which someone used a blowtorch to burn a hole in a shut-off valve. One of the incidents happened in Iowa, the other in South Dakota.

There's a certain irony in using gasoline to start fires to protest carbon emissions.

Trump Green Lights Keystone Pipeline

Hmm, I sorta though he already had, but just to make it more official: TransCanada Receives Presidential Permit for Keystone XL

TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) today announced that the U.S. Department of State has signed and issued a Presidential Permit to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline.

"This is a significant milestone for the Keystone XL project," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer. "We greatly appreciate President Trump's Administration for reviewing and approving this important initiative and we look forward to working with them as we continue to invest in and strengthen North America's energy infrastructure."

Keystone XL is an important piece of TransCanada's comprehensive U.S. growth portfolio driving an investment of more than US$15 billion in liquids and natural gas projects that will create thousands of well-paying jobs and generate substantial economic benefits across the U.S.

TransCanada will continue to engage key stakeholders and neighbors throughout Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota to obtain the necessary permits and approvals to advance this project to construction.

In conjunction, TransCanada has discontinued its claim under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and will end its U.S. Constitutional challenge.

As the Washington Post was quick to point out, this doesn't mean the end of opposition to the pipeline:

The project’s supporters and detractors immediately weighed in, promising to continue the fight over the pipeline on many different fronts.

“This project will not get built,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “We will defeat this pipeline in the courts and in the court of public opinion.”

Dakota Access Protesters Evicted, Leave Behind Scorched Earth

From Feb 22. Dakota Access Pipeline protesters burn structures as deadline looms

Some protesters have decided to end their time at the camp by burning down structures that were built on the site. From the Associated Press:

Some of the praying protesters said burning the structures — which appeared to include a yurt and a teepee — was part of the ceremony of leaving. As heavy rain turned to snow, some said they expected no trouble during the eviction, despite a heavy law enforcement presence.
“People are being very mindful, trying very hard to stay in prayer, to stay positive,” said Nestor Silva, 37, of California. “I am not aware of any plans for belligerence.”…
Dom Cross, an Oglala Sioux from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, said he planned to return home after living at the camp since September.
“There’s a lot of sadness right now. We have to leave our second home,” he said.

After months of showdowns with police, local law enforcement will finally clear the camp today. Authorities are being gracious to the exiting protesters. There will be buses provided to give them a ride to Bismark, ND. Each protester will be given food, a voucher for one night in a hotel and a bus ticket to take them anywhere in the United States. Fox News reports that authorities are even offering some kind of symbolic arrest aimed at giving the protesters something akin to an honorable way out of the protest. However, anyone who stays past today’s 2pm deadline and refuses the offer will be arrested and charged. One way or another, the camp will be cleared out today.

Once it is empty the work of cleaning up the mess left behind by up to 10,000 protesters will continue. The area where the camp is located is in a flood zone that washes into the local river. There is concern that abandoned cars, garbage and human waste could all wind up in the river if it is not removed before flooding takes place.

Now, that's some real environmentalism there.

Does anyone recall the origin of the standoff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge? I do.

In 2012, Dwight Lincoln Hammond, Jr., 73, and Steven Dwight Hammond, 46, were both convicted of two counts of arson on federal land, in relation to two fires they set in 2001 and 2006. In a mid-trial settlement agreement, the Hammonds agreed to not appeal the arson convictions in order to have other charges dismissed by the government. The Hammonds were also told the prosecutor would seek the mandatory minimum sentence of five years. Ultimately, Dwight Hammond was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and his son Steven was sentenced to a year and a day's imprisonment, which both men served. However, in 2015, the sentences were vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which then remanded re-sentencing. In October 2015, a judge re-sentenced the Hammonds to five years in prison (with credit for time served), ordering that they return to prison on January 4, 2016.

The Hammonds were charged under anti-terrorism laws for starting brush fires on their own land that inadvertently spread into the adjoining wildlife refuge, fires which they put out after a few acres of brush were burned, with no help from the government. The Bundy's seized on this incident as an example of how the Federal Government was oppressing ranchers.

I'll bet none of these protesters will be charged under that law. Instead they get free bus tickets home. None of them were shot to death.

From yesterday's news The Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp is no more

Many of the 200-300 protesters remaining at the Dakota Access Pipeline main camp, known as Oceti Sakowin, packed up and left yesterday. Some chose to burn down shelters they had built over the past several months on their way out. But a few holdouts remained today so police moved in and cleared the camp one final time. From the Seattle Times:

Police moved on the camp Thursday morning in dozens of armored personnel carriers, as a helicopter and fixed-wing airplane circled overhead. Police moved tent to tent and shack to shack with guns drawn, clearing out demonstrators. By 2:09 p.m. Central Time, it was over.
As many as 100 demonstrators were in the camp, according to activists, but authorities estimated 50.

Apparently 39 people were arrested today. Authorities had previously offered anyone who wanted to leave some food, a hotel voucher and a bus pass to anywhere in the country. Total cost of the cleanup of the site is starting at $800,000 though it’s believed that could go as high as $1.2 million by the time everything is done. Meanwhile, environmental groups such as 350.org which supported the protest are vowing to continue the fight. . .

I hear the Indians were getting pretty tired of the filthy hippies.

Reason #5403 We Elected Trump

People in red states were tired of obstruction for the sake of symbolic environmentalism:Trump To Give Green Light To Keystone, Dakota Access Pipelines

President Trump on Tuesday is expected to give the go-ahead for construction of two controversial oil pipelines, the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access, a White House official tells NPR's Tamara Keith.

The pipelines had been stopped during the Obama administration. The State Department rejected a permit for the Keystone pipeline from Canada, and President Obama ordered work halted on the Dakota pipeline after Native American groups and other activists protested its route near culturally sensitive sites in North Dakota.
. . .
In remarks to automakers on Tuesday morning, Trump proclaimed himself an environmentalist, but added, "It's out of control, and we're going to make a very short process, and we're going to either give you your permits or we're not going to give you your permits, but you're going to know very quickly."

White House Stops Dakota Access Pipeline

White House (not the Army) halts Dakota Access Pipeline work yet again

Throwing yet another wrench into what has long since been settled law in the courts, the Army Corps of Engineers (CoE) issued another conflicting announcement this weekend in which they claimed that an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to go under Lake Oahe would not be granted. This, of course, had the professional protesters in the area celebrating and the company building the project shaking their heads in disbelief. (CNN))

The Army will not approve an easement that would allow the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, the Army’s assistant secretary for civil works announced Sunday.
Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a press release she based her decision on a need to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing. It was announced on November 14, 2016 that her office was delaying the decision on the easement to allow for discussions with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation lies 0.5 miles south of the proposed crossing.

The pipeline is done, except for the final mine, which crosses the river.

As NBC News was reporting yesterday, both Energy Transfer Partners (the owners of the project) and both of the state’s senators called foul and said that these delays and harassment would end once Obama leaves office.

Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the project, denounced the decision Sunday night as “a purely political action.”
“The White House’s directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency,” it said in a statement…
Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, said the decision”violates the rule of law and fails to resolve the issue. Instead, it passes the decision off to the next administration, which has already indicated it will approve the easement, and in the meantime perpetuates a difficult situation for North Dakotans.”

Just to be clear, this obviously wasn’t a move which was made in a vacuum by the CoE. This came straight from the White House with the backing of the Justice Department. It was over a month ago when the Army began making noises about “looking at an alternate route” in response to the protests. But keep in mind that the current route is the one which the Army already approved and it was that approval which formed the basis for the state Public Service Commission’s decision to provide final approval. That approval was twice challenged in court and upheld both times.

Rewarding thuggery only results in more. Jan. 20th can't come soon enough. This should be on the list of last minute Obama directives to overturn on Day 1 of the Trump era. He should go in reverse order. The more recent the Obama decree, the more quickly it should be revoked.

What Happened to Pea Coil?

U.S. Passes Saudis, Russia in Oil Reserves

The US holds more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia and Russia, the first time it has surpassed those held by the world’s biggest exporting nations, according to a new study.

Rystad Energy estimates recoverable oil in the US from existing fields, discoveries and yet undiscovered areas amounts to 264bn barrels. The figure surpasses Saudi Arabia’s 212bn and Russia’s 256bn in reserves.

The analysis of 60,000 fields worldwide, conducted over a three-year period by the Oslo-based group, shows total global oil reserves at 2.1tn barrels. This is 70 times the current production rate of about 30bn barrels of crude oil a year, Rystad Energy said on Monday.

Recoverable reserves — those barrels that are technologically and economically feasible to extract — are analysed by the energy industry to determine company valuations and the long-term health of an oil-producing nation’s economy.

Fracking happened, that what. Despite all the liberal opposition to it.

Energy News

Half of US shale drillers may go bankrupt

Half of U.S. shale oil producers could go bankrupt before the crude market reaches equilibrium, Fadel Gheit, said Monday.

The senior oil and gas analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. said the "new normal oil price" could be 50 to 100 percent above current levels. He ultimately sees crude prices stabilizing near $60, but it could be more than two years before that happens.

By then it will be too late for many marginal U.S. drillers, who must drill into and break up shale rock to release oil and gas through a process called hydraulic fracturing. Fracking is significantly more expensive than extracting oil from conventional wells.

"Half of the current producers have no legitimate right to be in a business where the price forecast even in a recovery is going to be between, say, $50, $60. They need $70 oil to survive," he told CNBC's "Power Lunch."

 And the reason for the dramatic fall in prices?

Oil prices have fallen about 70 percent from their highs in the summer of 2014. The rout accelerated after OPEC, led by top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, declined to enforce production cuts among members of the cartel, a strategy that has supported crude prices in the past.

Gheit said he believes the Saudis will not allow prices to recover until they "take care" of U.S. shale producers, who have contributed to global oversupply as American production has more than doubled since 2008.

The Saudis are also looking to settle the score with Russia and Iran, both of whom are on opposite sides of regional conflicts and are dependent on oil revenues, Gheit said.

It's also killing Venezuela, the Marxist led kleptocracy in Latin America whose economy is almost entirely dependent on oil exports. With so much good coming from the low prices, I hate to whine about American shale oil producers, but we will need them eventually. Can the strong half rebound after the Saudis lose control of OPEC again, as has usually ended the oil droughts? I hope so.

And the Obama administration's War on Coal claims a casualty as Arch Coal files for bankruptcy

The beginning of bankruptcy proceedings for the nation’s second-biggest coal company cast another dark cloud over the economy of Wyoming and other states in the top coal-producing region, following a bankruptcy filing by another major coal operator last year.

Arch Coal Inc.’s Chapter 11 reorganization announced Monday won’t affect employee pay or benefits, cause mines to close, curtail production, or interrupt deliveries, the St. Louis-based company said in prepared statements.

Arch officials didn’t rule out mine closures or layoffs based on long-term trends, however, and it remains unknown when and how the industry might somehow halt its downward spiral.

And why can't they sell coal for a profit?

Many utilities have been switching from coal to natural gas to generate electricity. Besides being cheaper, natural gas emits less greenhouse gas, a major consideration as utilities look to comply with tough new government regulations to try to control global warming.

I'm not at all against replacing coal with natural gas as a fuel; it's a better one for several reasons, but I would prefer that the switch over occur naturally as a result of market forces than by government

“The plight of the coal industry has been hard to watch. Unrelenting pressure from federal regulations and policies coming out of D.C. are pushing companies to a financial brink,” Gov. Matt Mead’s spokesman David Bush said by email Monday.
. . .
Not everybody was glum about the bankruptcy filing. The group WildEarth Guardians, which has contested several coal leases in the West on the grounds that coal contributes to climate change, called on Arch to wind down business altogether.

“There is no future for coal, and it’s time for Arch Coal to be honest about this with its shareholders, its employees, and the American public who sustain so much of the company’s operations,” Jeremy Nichols of WildEarth Guardians said in a news release.

May you freeze hungry in the dark. 

Obama Nixes Keystone Pipeline

Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline

President Barack Obama on Friday rejected the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, ending the political fight over the Canada-to-Texas project that has gone on for much of his presidency.

Secretary of State John Kerry concluded the controversial project is not in the country's national security interest, and Obama announced from the White House that he agreed.

I'm sure glad we don't have to worry about that pipeline anymore:

Can't let something like that get built in somebodies backyard:

Now Canada will have to sell all that oil to China. I'm sure they'll burn it carbon free. Union leaders who wanted the jobs will get no sympathy from me, although I have some for the workers.

Obama Sends Canadian Gas to China

Not directly, of course, but indirectly, by opposing and blocking the Keystone Pipeline he's made it pretty clear that the Canadians cannot count on the US to help in the development and sale of fossil fuels, even when it's in our own economic interest: TransCanada set to start building B.C. gas pipeline this year

TransCanada Corp said on Friday it expects to start construction this year onnatural gas pipeline to British Columbia's Pacific Coast worth at least C$5 billion ($4.1 billion) following a conditional go-ahead by a Petronas-led consortium for what could be Canada's first LNG export terminal.

The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line will connect the prolific Montney gas field near Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia to the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal, which is planned for Lelu Island on the North Pacific Coast near the port of Prince Rupert.

The conditional go-ahead for the liquefied natural gas terminal is a rare win forTransCanada, which has struggled in recent years to rally support for its crude oil pipeline projects, including the long-delayed Keystone XL line to move oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The Calgary-based pipeline company has bet big on Canada's nascent LNG industry, with deals to build more than C$13 billion in natural gas pipelines to serve proposed export projects on the country's West Coast.
. . .
TransCanada said it plans to put the 900-km (560-mile) Prince Rupert line into service as early as 2019.

It's hard to blame them.

American Frackers Shake Off Saudi Sanctions

Irrepressible US Shale Defies OPEC

When OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, chose not to cut production last November, it effectively consigned its members to a prolonged period of low prices and the financial strain, palliated only by the hope that the bear market would soon squeeze American shale producers. The petrostate cartel essentially abdicated its market-fixing role on a bet that the relatively high cost of hydraulic fracturing would make American firms the world’s new swing producers, but as the FT reports, that bet is looking more and more suspect:

[S]o far, overall US output seems to be only levelling off, rather than collapsing. If US crude stays at its present level of about $45 per barrel, then it seems likely that production will start falling later this year. But Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, is forecasting that US oil production will grow this year and next, if there is a rebound in prices to about $60 per barrel. […]

The cost cuts and productivity gains that shale oil producers expect come in three categories…First, there are savings from putting pressure on suppliers of drilling rigs, hydraulic fracturing and other services. Companies have generally been saying they expect reductions of 20 to 30 per cent this year.
Second, companies benefit from focusing spending on their most productive assets. “You’re dropping all your worst-performing rigs and worst-performing rig crews and moving the rigs you have to your core areas,” says Randall Collum of Genscape, an energy research firm…Finally, there are productivity gains available from improved techniques.

OPEC is now saying that it expects U.S. production to possibly taper off in late 2015, certainly later than most member countries would like.

I'm OK with this either way. If the Saudis rip the floor out from under the oil market to the point that gas prices stay low (and I notice they're creeping up), then the US economy wins, even if the oil industry doesn't. But if the Saudis try to raise the price again, US frackers get back in the game and help keep them down, and bring more business to the US. Win-win.

Senate Passes Keystone Bill, Obama Threatens Veto

Senate votes to build Keystone, defying veto threat from Obama

The Senate on Thursday voted 62-36 to build the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, delivering Republicans the first legislative victory of their new majority.

Nine Democrats joined with Republicans in voting to approve the $8 billion project, five votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a promised veto from President Obama.

The nine Democrats who voted to approve Keystone were Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tom Carper (Del.), Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Mark Warner (Va.)
. . .
The bill now heads to the House, where Republicans are determined to act quickly to force Obama into taking what they believe will be a politically unpopular stand against a project that would carry oil sands from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

Wait, I thought the House had already passed a Keystone Pipeline Bill this session?

While the House voted to build the pipeline earlier this year, the Senate added several amendments to the legislation during three weeks of work, the byproduct of McConnell’s promise to give individual members more input on the floor.

Aides said House Republicans have not decided whether to pass the Senate bill as is or seek a conference committee, where a final version would be negotiated between the chambers.

You mean they allowed Senators to actually vote amendments to the bill? When did that start happening?  Oh, right. .  .

 Obama has repeatedly warned Congress not to short-circuit the federal review of the pipeline and seems poised to issue the third veto of his presidency when the legislation hits his desk.

"If, in fact, the legislation that passed the House also passes the Senate, then the president won't sign it," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday.

The State Department, who must rule on the Keystone Pipeline, has already twice given it's approval to the Keystone, only to have it sent back to Obama with understood instructions do find something wrong with it, to burnish his environmentalist credentials.

"We are hoping the president, upon reflection, will sign agree to sign onto a bill that his State Department says could creates 42,000 jobs," McConnell said.

As Instapundit says, make him wear out that veto pen on jobs bills, cuts in the federal work force, and other popular legislation.

UPDATE: This would also be a good time to read this article by Jonah Goldberg:

Why Obama and the Saudis Like Low Gas Prices

. . . By artificially keeping oil prices low, the Saudis get to deal a powerful blow to the energy revolution in the U.S. (They also get to deliver a severe economic blow to their enemies the Iranians, which is nice.) In exchange, Obama gets an unearned political windfall and can claim vindication for his ineffectual economic policies.

Obama is paying back the Saudis by permanently taking the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve’s billions of barrels of oil off the table for all time. By doing so, he also puts the entire Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS) on a starvation diet. North Slope oil production is half of what it once was, and if it falls below 350,000 barrels per day, the TAPS itself will start to become economically and technically unfeasible. In other words, Saudi Arabia’s short-term economic hit is an investment in future dependence on Saudi oil.

Of course, there need not be a conspiracy, just a convergence of economic and political interests. But the fact remains that Obama could never have gotten away with restricting energy development in ANWR before an election or when gas prices were high. This is Obama’s window, and it appears the Saudis are holding it open for him for as long as he needs.

White House Confirms Keystone Veto Threat

White House finally issues formal veto threat on Keystone bill

Today, the White House made it explicit:

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 3, which would immediately authorize the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline and related cross-border facilities and declare that the Secretary of State’s January 2014 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement satisfies the National Environmental Policy Act and any other provisions of law requiring Federal consultation or review with respect to the Keystone XL pipeline or its related facilities.
H.R. 3 seeks to circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether cross-border pipelines serve the national interest by authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline project prior to the completion of the Presidential Permitting process. In doing so, it would cut short consideration of important issues relevant to the national interest. The bill also would authorize the project despite uncertainty due to ongoing litigation in Nebraska.
Because H.R. 3 conflicts with longstanding Executive branch procedures regarding the authority of the President and prevents the thorough consideration of complex issues that could bear on U.S. national interests (including serious security, safety, environmental, and other ramifications), if presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto this bill.

. . .On Keystone, though, the White House has more problems, not the least of which is dishonesty. The State Department has had six years to consider Keystone, which makes the claim that Congress would “cut short consideration of important issues” a laughable lie. The US fought the second world war in less than four years in comparison, and put a man on the Moon in almost the same amount of time that the Obama administration has stalled out on a pipeline. Citing the legal challenge is more nonsense; an approval would have no impact on the court. These applications do not sit around waiting around for the resolution of all possible legal challenges.

The State Department keeps giving the administration go ahead reports on the Keystone Pipeline, and Tom Steyer President Obama keeps sending in back with them to orders to get it right.

Around the World with the Wombat

A quick survey of Wombat-socho's "Live at Five: 12.01.14" for any exciting news.

Nope. none. . . . OK, just kidding:

Obama To Meddle Further In Ferguson Mess: Cabinet meeting will review DoD programs that provide military equipment to police - I haven't said much about Ferguson, mostly because I'm so disgusted with the behavior of almost everyone involved. I was 14 when the Watts Riots broke out in Los Angeles. It's quite clear that as a nation we have made enormous progress in providing minorities with equal rights under the law, but that has done little or nothing to ease racial tensions, and in fact has probably made the situation worse. But you have to admit, Ferguson makes a pretty good case for why small town cops might need MRAPs.

Hundreds Turn Out For Traficant Memorial Service Did they all wear the ceremonial orange jumpsuit and hairpieces? He rolled a farm tractor over on himself. Ugh.

Obamacare Small Business Site Opens To Weak Interest  - I guess this will have to pass as the almost daily Obamacare Shadenfreude. A quote:

The Post also reported that insurers are having trouble accessing their accounts on the site and are not appearing in the system's master lists of professionals available to advise small businesses. The paper reported, citing confidential federal documents, that parts of the online marketplace are still being tested. CMS spokesman Aaron Albright claimed that the sections of the site needed to explore and select health plans has been "thoroughly tested."

Another repeat of last year's computer debacle? This was the section of the law that the Preznit decided to delay a year? It doesn't seem like they took the extra time to bother to get it right.

Asian Crude Plunges As OPEC Refuses To Cut Production: WTI $64.60, Brent $68.31 - As I have said previously, I don't really mind OPEC and Russia trying to keep prices so low it keeps some shale from being profitable. Think of it as a strategic reserve we don't have to pay the federal government to maintain. And their plan may be working: Falling Oil Prices Just Put Two Major U.S. Shale Basins in the Red

"I'll take a case"

Girl Scout Cookie Online Sales Okayed - Samoas and Tagalongs without the guilt trip? That'll never work.

PNC Reveals Cost Of “Twelve Days Of Christmas” Gifts In Today’s Economy  - Only 27k ish, because those nasty Republicans held the minimum wage down (5 maids a-milking). Seems like a bargain.

Roku? Chromecast? Fire TV? Which Streaming Stick Is Right For You? - Been thinking about it but basic cable seems to keep us content 90% of the time.

Study: Social Media Misused By Researchers

In a paper published in the current issue of Science, computer scientists Derek Ruths and Jürgen Pfeffer of Carnegie Mellon outline a number of problems with academia's current usage of social media data to study human behavior.

These days, "thousands of research papers each year are now based on data gleaned from social media," so there are far-reaching implications to the poor methodology detailed by the researchers, Ruths told McGill University.

"Many of these papers are used to inform and justify decisions and investments among the public and in industry and government," he said.

Melanie Brown (Mel B)

I'm shocked, shocked to see science misused to fit government and business, aren't you?

Mel B (Scary Spice): “I Do Have A Big Ego, And I’m In Love With Myself” - I know you're also surpised to hear that a good looking, rich, talented woman would have a healthy ego. Doesn't she know she's supposed to be more self effacing?

Scarlet Johansson Weds In Secret Ceremony - Oh man, does this mean I'm out of the running? I'm always the last person to find out.

Snooki got married too. - Dodged a bullet there, I guess.

Bale tells Clooney to ‘stop whining’ - Always appropriate.

Iraq Graft Probe Finds 50,000 “Ghost Troops” So they learned a trick or two about governance from Washington DC?

Nigeria's Economy Challenged as U.S. Oil Exports Dry Up - Frack, baby frack. It's not that I hate the Nigerians, I just like us better.

Boko Haram Attacks Nigerian State Capital - But we should still help them make an example out of these guys.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

Saudis Attempt to Kill Shale Oil

OPEC Policy Ensures U.S. Shale Crash, Russian Tycoon Says

OPEC policy on crude production will ensure a crash in the U.S. shale industry, a Russian oil tycoon said.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept output targets unchanged at a meeting in Vienna today even after this year’s slump in the oil price caused by surging supply from U.S shale fields.

American producers risk becoming victims of their own success. At today’s prices of just over $70 a barrel, drilling is close to becoming unprofitable for some explorers, Leonid Fedun, vice president and board member at OAO Lukoil (LKOD), said in an interview in London.

Cut baby, cut. Sell us your oil cheap to try to get the price below the point at which shale is economical. All that will happen is that you'll run out faster, and our oil will still be available in the ground. I can't wait for day the world becomes less dependent on the Arab oil producing states.

WAPO Calls Out Obama on Keystone Lies

Glenn Kessler, the so-called "fact checker" for the Washington Post has awarded the Preznit three Pinocchios for his statements on the Keystone XL pipeline, on or around the time the Senate failed to bail out soon to be ex-Senator Mary Landrieu. Specifically he objected to the repeated statements that the oil brought to the Gulf by the pipeline would not be used in the US, and would be exported:

“I won’t hide my opinion about this, which is that one major determinant of whether we should approve a pipeline shipping Canadian oil to world markets, not to the United States, is does it contribute to the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change?” – President Obama, news conference at G-20 summit, Brisbane, Australia, Nov. 16, 2014

“Understand what this project is. It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else.” – Obama, news conference, Rangoon, Burma, Nov. 14

Twice during his recent overseas trip, President Obama asserted that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline was designed to take Canadian crude oil to the world markets. The implication of the president’s words is that the United States would be simply a conveyor belt for the oil.

Sounds pretty unequivocal to me. Glenn goes on to show rather convincingly that the US would export approximately half the oil products (primarily diesel), while importing some from Europe, primarily gasoline.

It turns out the US uses a higher proportion of gasoline to diesel than Europe, so when oil is refined in the US, we have diesel fuel to spare, while Europe, which relies more on diesel, has gasoline to spare. In other words a fair exchange.

In other words, at least half of the oil that is refined on the Gulf Coast stays in the United States. Market conditions could change, of course, but there is little basis to claim that virtually all of the product would be exported. (The Fact Checker has previously noted that, contrary to the claims of advocates of the project, Keystone XL is unlikely to have much impact on gasoline prices.)

Now, given that the Preznit has the entire resources of the federal government at his disposal to get his facts right, I'm inclined to hold him to the strict interpretation of his words, and say that he knowingly flat out lied. But of course, being a liberal shill, Glenn couldn't quite make it that far:

The president seriously overstates the percentage of Canadian crude that might be exported if the Keystone XL pipeline is built. He suggests all of it would be exported, without mentioning that it first would almost certainly stop on the Gulf Coast to be refined into products. On top of that, current trends suggest that about half of that refined product would be exported. That is not insubstantial, but it is certainly much smaller than 100 percent.

All of this is laid out in the extensive report issued by the State Department earlier this year. The president might want to study it before he addresses the Keystone question again. In the meantime, he earns Three Pinocchios. We nearly made it Four Pinocchios, but it is correct that at least some of the product would be exported, based on current market conditions.

I wonder if he will give the next Republican he grades the same latitude with the facts.

Just kidding, of course.

House Passes Keystone XL Pipeline Bill

House approves Keystone XL pipeline as Senate vote awaits

The House passed legislation Friday that would green-light the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, as attention now shifts to an upcoming Senate vote next week.

The bill from Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La., passed 252-161, with all Republicans supporting — except one who voted present — and 31 Democrats joining them. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., have floated the same bill in the upper chamber, which is scheduled for a Tuesday vote.

President Obama, however, hinted Friday that he would veto the bill if it reached his desk. He reiterated that he would not let legislation circumvent the review process at the State Department, which has had the application for a cross-border permit needed to build the pipeline's northern leg for more than six years.

This, of course, is absolute bullshit, as the State Department has approved the Keystone XL not once, but twice, and each time the screechers in the environmental lobby funded by billionaire Tom Streyer have found some excuse to get the Preznit to send it back to State for another look for flaws.

"My position hasn’t changed, that this is a process that is supposed to be followed,” Obama said during a press conference in Burma, dashing some speculation that he could OK the legislation as an olive branch to the incoming Republican-led Senate.

Of course, the Republican controlled House has had the ability to pass such a law for a couple of years, only to have it die in Dirty Harry Reid's Democratic Senate.  Now it's a different story, and with Bloody Mary Landrieu (D- Louisiana) seeking to win a runoff election for her seat in the Senate the bill should gain a simple majority easily, but maybe not the 60 votes to survive a filibuster.  My advice to Sen. McConnell? Go nuclear, early and often, until the democrats say "uncle."

The Keystone XL pipeline is broadly popular with the American public. with support of about 65% of those polled, and forcing allowing the Senate Democrats to filibuster the bill or Obama to veto it would not help their party in the 2016 election. The 2014 midterms produced a consensus of the nation that they wanted the Republicans to lead; leaving the Democrats as the party of "no."