Remember when the president vowed to “restore science to its proper place”? Now he’s replaced that pledge with pure politics — and Gov. Cuomo is right behind him.
For President Obama, it’s the Keystone XL pipeline. The White House announced there will be no decision on the pipeline until after the November elections.
This is a huge setback. By not taking advantage of the opportunity to deliver oil from the Canadian tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico, the president has guaranteed higher prices for consumers, fewer jobs for workers and reduced American leverage in dealing with, say, oil-rich Vladimir Putin.
For Gov. Cuomo, it’s not oil but natural gas. Still his approach to fracking is the same as the president’s to the pipeline: delay, delay, delay. And like the president, he does so because he is catering to a small but powerful interest group: the greens.
This is rich, coming from the party that claims to represent the little guy. While the Koch brothers are demonized, we note that among the fiercest opponents of the pipeline is liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, who has pledged to raise $100 million to help Democrats keep the Senate.
In the 21st century, secure and affordable sources of energy have become even more critical — for our economic growth, for the economic growth of developing nations such as India and China, for jobs at home and for our foreign policy.
Cheap energy is vital to America’s future. Too bad cheap politics is getting in the way.