Obama Climate Speech: More Fracking And Keystone A Go?

In a speech on climate change to Georgetown University on Tuesday, President Obama touted his administration’s efforts to promote natural gas, including fracking, and strongly hinted that he would approve the Keystone XL pipeline project.

In the speech, Obama warned environmentalists that his clean energy projects would be limited in the near-term: “This does not mean we are going to suddenly stop producing fossil fuels. Our economy would not work very well if we did. Transitioning to a clean energy economy takes time.”

On Keystone, he said: “Allowing the Keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our nation’s interest. And our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. 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.”

Note that he said “net effects” and “significantly exacerbate.” There is a lot of wiggle room in those words and if earlier State Department reports are a guide, they seem to indicate that he will approve the project. Most prior indications also suggest he is leaning towards approving it. A recent report by the National Research Council said that the pipeline was no more dangerous than any other oil pipeline project.

Regarding natural gas, he first applauded power companies that have switched to “cleaner-burning natural gas instead of dirty fuel sources.” Then later in the speech he said:

Sometimes there are disputes about natural gas, but let me say this: We should strengthen our position as the top natural gas producer because — in the medium term at least — it not only can provide safe, cheap power but it can also help reduce our carbon emissions. Federally-supported technology has helped our businesses drill more effectively and extract more gas. And I will keep working with the industry to make drilling safer and cleaner, to make sure that we are not seeing methane emissions and to put people to work modernizing our natural gas infrastructure so that we can power more homes and businesses with cleaner energy. The bottomline is natural gas is creating jobs. It is lowering many families’ heat and power bills. And it’s the transition fuel that can power our economy with less carbon pollution even as our businesses work to develop and then deploy more of the technology required for the even cleaner energy economy of the future.

That’s a pretty strong endorsement and one that suggests the president is going to allow fracking, the natural gas extraction process that has made the energy source so abundant, to continue. This has some environmentalists upset.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama...line-in-climate-change-speech/article/2532380

Reagrding natural gas as the nation's future, I'd hope he would push something that would increase the infrastructure that would make NG cars more practical - something Pickens has been advocating for the past decade.

 

He talks a good game.
Lets see how he acts. Look for him to unleash the EPA to do his dirty work.
Obama is a Liberal ,socialist. He does not like fossil fuels. He has done nothing in favor of more fossil fuel production.

 

We are lucky to have a great president like Obama. I particularly like this....


"Declaring the scientific debate over climate change and its causes obsolete, Obama mocked those who deny that humans are contributing to the warming of the planet.

"We don't have time for a meeting of the flat-earth society," Obama said."

Damn straight. The denier morons need to be ignored. We don't have time for their stupidity.

It's too bad congress could not put in place a market based solution.

 

That's because you are an idiot just like he is.

I see he repeated that 97% lie like it was a fact. The stupid dumb fucker.

 

LOL


Yeah, his greatness must be why the world is mocking his sorry candy ass.

 

Did you know that members of the Flat Earth Society can be found all around the globe?

 

Why is he talking about himself?

 

But aren't you concerned about his stance with regard to the Patriot Act, the increased secrecy and less transparency, his behind the scenes continued push to solidify executive power over our ineffectual legislature?

When Obama was elected, I thought, thank God, we have an educated President whose IQ is above 100. But now I'm seeing it as a mixed blessing. Yes, he has tried in many ways to move in the right direction -- closing down the wars, recognizing that conventional warfare is ineffective against terrorism, but not recognizing that drone strikes make matters worse, unable to understand or do anything about the root cause, trying to do something about the horrible medical mess in the U.S., but willing to settle for continued mess, though possibly more just. He has turned out to be above all else a politician -- and a very bright capable one at that. Perhaps less evil than Cheney, more competent than Bush, better educated than Reagan, luckier than Carter, more inward than Clinton, but too calculating, too political. I'm worried, but at the same time I understand the constraints he has to operate under.

On the other hand, he is not doing anything to reverse the horrible intrusions on constitutional rights we are experiencing -- a slide toward becoming a police State. In that regard, it's like he has taken a play book from the Soviet Union. He hasn't done anything to get rid of the Reagan excesses and flawed economic policies- the income redistribution that led to decimation of the middle class, the for-profit prisons, the counterproductive war on drugs, the bloated and fraudulent military budget, and the worst access to, and highest cost of medical care in the industrialized world -- the jury is out on that. Most importantly, he has, so far as I can tell, done nothing to restore that path for individuals from labor to capital that was the essence of the "American Dream." That path no longer exists in any meaningful way. Nowadays, if you are born into labor, you will remain there no matter how hard you work unless you are extraordinarily lucky. In the mid 1960's the minimum wage in constant dollars was $10.40/hr. Today it is $7.25/hr!!!

I miss those days when we did not have to take our shoes off to get on an airplane! I'm willing to take on more risk for fewer laws and more freedom. It's not necessarily all Obama's fault, but he doesn't seem to be helping nearly as much as I had hoped. And the intrusions on personal liberty are positively scary.

 

Good, we have a glut.

 

Maybe so, but the price is still too high.

Hw many Rv's have you seen on the road? Damn few if any.

I can look out my window at the marina, there are three boats docked and probably 40 on land with blue tarps.

Several years ago there were bass tournaments every weekend, pfffttt.. those are done and overwith.

At the height of the financial boom, the three prix were out in full force 24/7, the sheriff, the troopers and econ patrolling the water. They used to bump into each other, not enough people to stop. I don't see them any more nor many boaters. I suppose everyone's broke. No boats on the water, less co2, no rv's no co2.