Hillary Clinton has a Keystone XL problem (+video)

[marble falls]

Energy/Environment Energy
Hillary Clinton has a Keystone XL problem (+video)
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http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy/2015/0413/Hillary-Clinton-has-a-Keystone-XL-problem-video

After six years of delays, the Keystone XL pipeline still hasn't been approved or rejected. Hillary Clinton's entry into the 2016 presidential race has renewed calls for the former secretary of State to take a stand on the divisive issue.
By Jared Gilmour, Staff writer April 13, 2015


Washington — Hillary Clinton announced Sunday that she will run for president in 2016, and environmental groups are welcoming her to the race with the first of what could be many Keystone XL protests.

The controversial pipeline has become a litmus test for environmentalists concerned that Ms. Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, won’t take a bold enough stance to fight climate change. As Secretary of State, Clinton said she was “inclined” to sign-off on the pipeline, which would carry emissions-heavy oil sands from Alberta to US Gulf Coast refineries. Since then, Clinton has remained silent on Keystone XL, while the Obama administration has spent six years deciding whether to approve or reject it. A final decision, which could come in weeks or months, would take some of the heat off Clinton.

But for now, the pressure’s on: Climate activism group 350.org, which helped catapult Keystone XL into the limelight as a symbol of the contemporary environmental movement, is spearheading a protest outside Clinton’s Brooklyn campaign headquarters Monday.
Recommended: Keystone XL: 5 basic things you should know

“We all remember when Clinton said she was 'inclined' to approve Keystone XL. If the pipeline goes through, she'll shoulder part of the blame, and this protest today will be just a small taste of actions to come,” Jamie Henn, spokesperson for 350 Action, told the Monitor in an email Monday. “Clinton is saying many of the right things on climate – Keystone XL is an easy way to start doing the right thing.”
Keystone XL: 5 basic things you should know
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Clinton might seem an unlikely target, given the strong marks she has received from other environmental groups. But with few Democratic challengers and a Republican field that questions the science of climate change, green groups are training their eyes on Clinton, who they believe could take a more vocal stand against climate change. According to an ABC News poll, 59 percent of Americans say they “want the next president to be someone who favors government action to address climate change,” while 58 percent call climate change an important issue.

Environmentalists are also mindful that Obama’s environmental legacy – including plans to slash US power plant emissions 30 percent by 2030, and his work toward a binding international climate accord – will be carried about by his successor.

http://launch.newsinc.com/share.html?trackingGroup=90962&siteSection=csmonitor&videoId=28212725

[JaneyVee]

1. And lets not forget who one of the biggest pro KXL groups around:

AFL-CIO

[marble falls]

2. And the AFL-CIO loves Hillary and also isn't running for office.....

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/02/06/afl_cio_and_keystone_why_labor_likes_pipelines.html

The AFL-CIO is moving this winter to be support the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.*

This has some people surprised on the grounds that the project is set to create very few permanent jobs. The issue here, however, is all about the building trades unions. The building trades have been backing Keystone for a long time because from the viewpoint of a construction worker all jobs are temporary jobs. Actually building the pipeline will involve thousands of construction workers.

The larger union federation had been staying studiously "neutral" out of concern for larger issues of coalition politics, alliance with the environmental movement, etc. But there's no big countervailing forces inside the labor federation against the building trades' interest in the pipeline. The State Department's recent report that gave a favorable verdict to the pipeline changes the calculation in terms of the bigger coalition. If the State Department is giving it a thumbs up, then for all the unions that don't care it's not clear what's gained by neutrality. And for the building trades the upside of building the pipeline remains what it ever was—construction jobs.

* Correction: An earlier version of this article mistook a new article based around some remarks that AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka made in January for an article about new remarks from Trumka.

Matthew Yglesias is the executive editor of Vox and author of The Rent Is Too Damn High.



It looks like the national committee isn't entirely on board.

[Cheese Sandwich]

3. Sidesteps questions now but helped bring it to the brink of approval