State Dept. to Undermine Obama’s Keystone Veto Threat?
Barack Obama may have greeted the 114th Congress with threats to veto the Keystone XL pipeline, but the State Department signaled it’s wrapping up its review of the project, possibly undermining the president’s threat. Obama’s reasoning for threatening the veto was because the executive branch hasn’t reviewed the project – as if Obama cares about the separation of powers. Now, State has set a deadline for Feb. 2 to gather the executive branch’s thoughts on Keystone. “Fox News has learned eight agencies have been asked to provide their views. The State Department has been wading through a review process for months and in setting a deadline, signaled it was preparing to make a final decision.” The Fox News report continued, “That is important because the White House had said previously that it was waiting for the agency to conclude its probe before President Obama decides whether to support the project.” The State Department’s move seems to weaken Obama’s stance, but we expect it to find environmental reasons for ditching the pipeline, thereby giving the president even more ammo. More…