PIPELINE OUTRAGE – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  Obama is getting precious little support for his reckless decision to deny a permit to build the critical Keystone pipeline from Canada. Even Democrats are muted in their response, knowing that American labor is behind the pipeline.

At one time the Democratic Party really was the party of the working man.  No more.  It shows contempt for the very people it claims to represent.  The pipeline would have been a major triumph for job creation.  But that's not important enough to this administration to cancel out the pressure from chic "environmental" groups and ignorant college students who campaign against modern progress as part of their lifestyle. 

Even the liberal Washington Post, showing its independence once again, is upset by Obama's recklessness:

ON TUESDAY, President Obama’s Jobs Council reminded the nation that it is still hooked on fossil fuels, and will be for a long time. “Continuing to deliver inexpensive and reliable energy,” the council reported, “is going to require the United States to optimize all of its natural resources and construct pathways (pipelines, transmission and distribution) to deliver electricity and fuel.”

It added that regulatory “and permitting obstacles that could threaten the development of some energy projects, negatively impact jobs and weaken our energy infrastructure need to be addressed.”

Mr. Obama’s Jobs Council could start by calling out . . . the Obama administration.

The Post notes that Obama rejected the pipeline and adds...

We almost hope this was a political call because, on the substance, there should be no question. Without the pipeline, Canada would still export its bitumen — with long-term trends in the global market, it’s far too valuable to keep in the ground — but it would go to China. And, as a State Department report found, U.S. refineries would still import low-quality crude — just from the Middle East. Stopping the pipeline, then, wouldn’t do anything to reduce global warming, but it would almost certainly require more oil to be transported across oceans in tankers.

And finally...

Environmentalists should fight for policies that might actually do substantial good instead of tilting against Keystone XL, and President Obama should have the courage to say so.

COMMENT:  If that's what the nation's leading liberal paper is saying, imagine what the conservatives are saying.  This decision should become a major campaign theme for the GOP, if it can get its act together.

January 19, 2012