I'm convinced the average age of DC politicians is lower than their biographies indicate.
Why the goofy deadline? I'm convinced it was not set in order to improve the well-being of the people who live in the United States:
President Obama on Wednesday rejected, for now, the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, saying the $7 billion project could not be adequately reviewed within the 60-day deadline set by Congress. While the president’s action does not preclude later approval of the project, it sets up a baldly partisan fight over energy, jobs and regulation that will most likely persist through the November election.
The president said his hand had been forced by Republicans in Congress, who inserted a provision in the temporary payroll tax cut bill passed in December giving the administration only until Feb. 21 to decide the fate of the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would stretch from oil sands formations in Alberta to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
The State Department, which has authority over the project because it crosses an international border, said there was not enough time to draw a new route for the pipeline and assess the potential environmental harm to sensitive grasslands and aquifers along its path. The agency recommended that the permit be denied, and Mr. Obama concurred.
For those who say the Keystone XL pipeline will reduce energy prices (e.g., here is one example):
The pipeline extension was designed to increase Canadian oil exports to the United States by 700,000 barrels a day, or about 4 percent of current United States demand. By connecting the oil sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast, it would provide new supplies to big East Coast markets. The pipeline, at least theoretically, could also increase exports of refined gasoline and diesel for export, especially to Mexico.
Assuming oil equals gas (i.e., petrol), price elasticity of 0.26 (long run) and the percentage change in quantity demanded is 4 (as supply increases, holding demand constant), the reduction in the price of gasoline would be about 1 percent.
And where does the stuff about Keystone XL pipeline leading to higher gas prices come from? If energy groups say this (e.g., lower gas prices, more jobs) do environmental groups automatically say that (e.g., higher gas prices, less jobs)? Weird.
