Obama, in an interview with the New York Times, has revealed that he has reservations about approving the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline as it does not create new jobs but could potentially raise gasoline prices in the process.
In an interview with the New York Times, the President expressed his reluctance in approving the project, by saying, “Republicans have said that this would be a big jobs generator. There is no evidence that that’s true. The most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline – which might take a year or two – and then after that we’re talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people”.
He also felt that instead of gas prices falling after the construction of this pipeline, the prices might actually increase. But that’s not all – he gave environmentalists’ hope by reiterating that if there was evidence of the the project expanding carbon pollution, he would reject it altogether.
This is a clear indication that he, for all intents and purposes, wants to do away with this tar sands project in large part due to the pressure that he feels from his campaign supporters, Democrats in Congress and party donors.
What he also stated clearly – as he did in his climate change address – was that the project’s approval would hinge on whether it causes carbon pollution or not. He did not express his views on whether the tar sands project would cause climate change.
It should be pointed out that amid the debate, it is apparent that tar sands crude is much more carbon intensive than conventional oil.