Obama Tells Donors of Tough Politics of Environment

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: NY Times

SAN FRANCISCO — Appearing at the home of an outspoken critic of the Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama on Wednesday night told a group of high-dollar donors that the politics of the environment “are tough.”

Mr. Obama appears to be leaning toward approval of the pipeline, although he did not specifically mention it to the donors. But he acknowledged that it is difficult to sell aggressive environmental action — such as reducing pollution from power plants — to Americans who are still struggling in a difficult economy to pay bills, buy gas and save for retirement.

“You may be concerned about the temperature of the planet, but it’s probably not rising to your number-one concern,” Mr. Obama said. “And if people think, well, that’s shortsighted, that’s what happens when you’re struggling to get by.”

Mr. Obama delivered his remarks to a group that hardly needs to worry economically: Thomas F. Steyer, the hedge-fund billionaire, and his wife, Kat Taylor, along with 100 guests at their home who each paid $5,000 to $32,400. The Sea Cliff home looked out directly over the Golden Gate Bridge.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/us/politics/obama-donors-keystone-pipeline.html

[TRoN33]

1. Keystone XL and Big Betrayal...

It is furious that the politicians in the D.C. already knew the truth yet they won't share it with the public. Americans will never see the single drip of tar sand oil from Keystone Pipeline because it will head straight to the China. It will benefit nothing to us. The worst scenario is that if the pipeline break out and spill the tar sand oil, Canada and China are not obliged to pay a dime for the cleaning cost, meaning the U.S. taxpayers will have to pay for it. Tar sand oil is known to be very tough to clean up than the crude oil itself and it tends to be much more sticky than the crude oil also.

In reality, the U.S. taxpayers and landowners are being duped in massive scale. Americans who support Obama will felt the biggest betrayal we would never have experienced and the irony part is that Republicans are cheering for Obama to betray us on purpose.

Obama already raised the...

[tblue]

4. No. He's telling us to wave the white flag.

I ain't gonna though.

[gulliver]

16. Defeat Republicans and this stuff won't happen.

Your post is nonsense.

Republican lying means that Obama and other Dems have to support things like Keystone. You can't underestimate the damage a liar in a debate can do. People who are desperate for jobs (largely because of Republican economic stupidity) don't want to hear that there is any other priority than getting them jobs. And Republicans have no compunctions about gulling ill-informed, desperate people about environmental issues.

If Obama and many other Dems tried to stop Keystone, Republicans would simply blame our continuing economic problems on that. They caused the economic problems to begin with, and now they use those problems to justify causing more problems. It's an absurdity of life. I am against the pipeline, but I don't want our Dems fighting for something that will get them politically replaced by Republicans. Then we would still end up with the pipeline and would lose solar and wind power initiatives, gas mileage requirements, ANWR, and more.

Your post and those like it are simply blind. Republicans aren't "cheering for Obama to betray us." Republicans are just lying like usual, and unfortunately we have to live with the damage that causes.

[rhiannon55]

24. You make excellent points

I would rather the President make concessions, than lose it all to Republicans in 2014 and 2016. We would be royally fucked then.

[mountain grammy]

2. Two spills just this last week. Telling the 1% how everyone else is struggling,

you wonder, do they really understand? The Republicans are dragging us into a pit.

[tblue]

3. So try anyway.

I can forgive not succeeding. I can't forgive not trying. And what exactly is the political price it would cost him? He never has to stand for election again.

So much for thinking he'd turn into his true liberal self after the election.

[aggiesal]

6. Fantastic comment!

[gulliver]

17. Unfortunately, that misses a big point.

Even though Obama doesn't have to worry about his own reelection, he still has to worry about the next election. What Obama does will help determine who gets into every political office in the country going forward, including the next president. He can't just throw caution to the wind and die on every hill.

[montanacowboy]

5. I believe he will OK it

I don't trust him for a minute on this - he will go for it and tout all the "jobs" that will be added to the economy which we all know is a big goddamn lie. And he will use that argument "struggling to get by" to sell it, although only a handful of permanent jobs will ever be the result and the American people are fucked again.

Remember we are supposed to "force" him to do the right thing, right.

[aggiesal]

7. Honestly, I don't think DC gets it . . .

More regulation creates more jobs, and they last longer.
Building a pipeline will a lot of create jobs in the short term.
Once built, very few will have long term position.

While creating regulations, you'll need inspectors all over the place.
And, it never stops. Plus we benefit with a cleaner, healthier
environment.

The money used to pay the inspectors, would come from obviously
our taxes, but also from the fines levied when they damage the
environment. What did BP get fined? $20B

[blkmusclmachine]

8. Equivicator In Chief.

With his phony Grand Betrayals.

This guy doesn't even try anymore ..

[UBEEDelusional]

18. Why should he try when plenty of people will justifisy his actions no matter what

If a Republican had said that Dems would be calling for his/her head, so to speak.

The faithful will just turn a blind eye and praise the decision to proceed with Keystone.

I just hope that those that support Keystone are the ones who have to live with the pipeline, the leaking oil, and it will leak, in their towns and homes.

[MsPithy]

9. HOW MUCH ARE PREDICTABLE GROWING SEASONS WORTH?

Dude! We are not talking about summers being a little hotter.

Crop failures year after year, killer storms every year, NEW YORK CITY UNDER WATER, Florida under water (well, that wouldn't be so bad) mass extinctions, clouds of methane erupting from the permafrost and the oceans, ...

"Americans who are still struggling in a difficult economy," will look back at these times as the good old days, when they are starving to death because the American midwest became a desert.

[forestpath]

10. So let's just kill the planet cuz politics are hard work.

[RobertEarl]

11. It isn't poor people polluting the planet

It is the rich who are the biggest per capita polluters.

Poor people looking to put 'food on their families' as Bush was wont to say, are not the ones with yachts, airplanes, big houses, fancy cars and the like.

Too bad Obama does not tell them to quit using so much stuff, or at least start using solar for all their energy consumption.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. All I can say is

[greatlaurel]

13. He does not get it at all.

Obama's environmental policies are so very poor. It is obvious his fancy ivy league education did not include any science. He is easily and happily bamboozled by the corporate stooges with which he has surrounded himself. I do not think he can comprehend from the little input he gets what a mess we are really in. If he approves the Keystone pipeline after the mess in Arkansas, there is little he won't do for big business. His administration continues the environmental nightmares of the Bush years.

Clinton's environmental policies as a senator were impressive. I remember document after document from her senator hearings detailing the health hazards from the collapse of the Twin Towers. Her investigations of the environmental devastation helped bring to light (at least to the few of us paying attention to those issues) the outright contempt Bush and his toady Whitman had for the citizens of New York and the complete disdain they had for the health of the first responders. Obama's failure to do anything to protect US citizens from the fallout from Fukushima was so similar to the Bush regime's behavior after the New York tragedy, it was like there had not been an election.

[Dragonfli]

14. It's the American public that's to blame for a lack of environmental action?

I thought it was because politicians have mostly been purchased by energy companies. I know now that the buck stops with us peons.

I love being blamed for calling coal "clean" and leasing everything in sight to multinationals for record breaking profits that need to be augmented by huge subsidies. It is comforting for him to tell us we encourage such pro pollution policies and profits because WE are struggling, his concern for us is touching.

I am certain he will be just as concerned about all of our opinions. I am sure that environmental destruction polls high with all of us .

One would think that the public's attitude toward cutting entitlements would elicit similar sympathy while making "the politics" of opposing Pete Peterson's agenda rather easy because cuts to our safety nets would be far harder to sell to us struggling short sighted Americans.

One quibble with the article, the argument that he appears to be leaning towards approving the pipeline has nothing behind it other than the remarks were made at the house of a large check donar that opposes the pipeline. No one needs to just assume that, his love of big oil will compel him to outright admit that soon enough.

A final thought about this quote “You may be concerned about the temperature of the planet, but it’s probably not rising to your number-one concern,” makes him sound a bit unconcerned himself about impending extinction level climate changes that will do more than just raise the planets temperature a bit, I think he should hire a science advisor to explain to him the many negative destructive aspects of this climate change. He sounds similar to that fundy mother in jesus camp that was schooling her kid about the temperature only rising a few degrees over the next few decades, then asking her kid, "that little bit doesn't sound at all bad now does it"?

[Joe Shlabotnik]

15. Reccing, simply for visibility.

But frankly there is no upside to this article.

[byeya]

19. The politics are tough and the President isn't. Not tough enough by a long shot.

The science, from many disciplines, is in agreement: XL will help kill the planet as we've known it. It's time to do the right - and popular - thing: Take this step to help stop climate change.

[forestpath]

20. Oh, he's tough...on SS and Medicare recipients.

[byeya]

22. I certainly agree with you on that - good one!

[Comrade_McKenzie]

21. I just want some reasonable information about Keystone...

The environmental groups act like it's the end of the world.

And the corporate fucks acts like it's a saving grace.

I'm sick of advocates and opposers trying to outdo each other on the fearmongering.

I honestly never know what's going on with any issue like this because every pro and con sounds like an outright, goddamn lie.

[byeya]

23. I think you'll find it's environmental groups and concerned citizens backed by science vs

people whose greed forces them to lie or fund front groups to lie for them.