The Conservative government — along with TransCanada Pipelines and the Alberta oil sands — are at risk of being dragged somewhere they don’t want to be.
The politics surrounding the giant Keystone XL pipeline means Stephen Harper and his cabinet have become major players in an issue that is becoming increasingly emotional, an issue that is becoming a political dilemma for U.S. President Barack Obama.
Opponents of the pipeline are determined to make it an issue in the presidential election.
Obama has promised a decision by year’s end on the $7 billion, 2,700-kilometre pipeline that would ship Canadian oil from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, traversing six U.S. states.
The Conservatives didn’t set out to become a player in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. They have been doing what governments are supposed to do.
They are advocating for a Canadian export and arguing for jobs on both sides of the border, a position that has already earned them the enmity of environmentalists here at home.
But to be front and centre in a battle between the environment and jobs in the U.S. as the election season unfolds is something quite different.
A few short months ago, Obama’s approval appeared a slam dunk, the merits of the giant project a “no-brainer,” in the words of Harper.
The project promises 20,000 jobs and the economy has been perhaps the only issue in the U.S. campaign so far.
Now, it is being described as a “defining political issue’’ for the U.S, president as two of his core constituencies, the environmental movement and the U.S. labour movement line up against each other.
Increasingly, the fierce debate is tarnishing the Canadian brand in the U.S.
Opponents are playing the Ugly Canadian card.
On Tuesday alone, readers of The New York Times website could watch a video by Robert Redford and read a story of heavy handed actions by TransCanada.
Redford called the Alberta crude “the dirtiest oil on the planet,” and delivered a tough message to the U.S. president.
“Stand up for the future you know we deserve,” he said. “Say ‘no’ to the Keystone XL.”
The newspaper also carried a report about TransCanada’s aggressive land acquisition practices along the route of the proposed pipeline, raising questions about whether a foreign company can use the U.S. eminent domain legislation to force their pipeline on private property.
The report said TransCanada has already started more than 50 court actions against landowners who refused to allow access to the pipeline on their property and the newspaper quoted landowners in Texas saying they had never seen a company act so aggressively.
Environmental groups have released emails that they say raise questions about the relationship between TransCanada and the U.S. State department, which gave Keystone an environmental passing grade.
The Washington Post carried an extensive report Monday, outlining the fierce Canadian lobbying and reporting that Ottawa had lined up with unions against environmentalists and youth activists who are determined to turn Keystone into a campaign issue.
Harper has personally taken the case for TransCanada to Obama.
John Baird, Joe Oliver, Tony Clement and Ed Fast are among his ministers who have made the case to their counterparts in the Obama cabinet.
Obama’s first stop after his election victory was Ottawa, where Harper basked in the glow of his popularity on a frigid February day.
Less than three years later, his popularity greatly eroded, Obama must decide on something vital to Harper’s interests.
Any move to delay — or kill — the project would be, as one insider put it, “a shot across the bow at Canada-U.S. relations.”
Going ahead will cost him the support and donations from a frustrated U.S. environmental movement.
U.S. ambassador David Jacobson maintained Tuesday that politics will not enter into the Keystone decision.
He actually said it with a straight face.
Origin
Source: Toronto Star
No comments:
Post a Comment