It’s been a long time coming, but finally the Obama administration was forced to make official what has been the unspoken reality for the entirety of his presidency.
The Keystone XL pipeline has been rejected by the White House.
The move was forced by some maneuvering by TransCanada, the company spearheading the project, which requested a suspension of its permit application while a state review process in Nebraska ran its course.
If approved by the State Department, this would have very likely pushed a decision at the federal level well past the 2016 elections.
In essence, the current administration had to either let control of it slip out of their reach, or finally act in a way that is in line with their stated policies, a move which will only further hurt vulnerable Democrats in key states.
Obama’s policies have been spelled out in greater detail over the last year. Renewable energy – especially solar and wind – have been a staple for the President for some time, along with opposition to coal power.
However, even the Obama administration recognizes the limitations of renewable technologies, particularly variable energy production.
Coal is currently the backbone of the U.S. electrical grid, providing cheap baseline energy. Natural gas is steadily gaining on coal, but cannot shoulder the full burden of phasing out coal power.
With an upcoming major climate change meeting at the U.N., along with a recent and very ambitious tentative agreement with China to reduce carbon emissions. The United States agreed to emit between 26% to 28% less carbon dioxide than it did in 2005 by 2025.
To help cover the difference, a sparsely covered, international campaign is underway in favor of what many are calling “Obama’s Secret Pipeline.”
Nuclear power is a critical part of the plan to maintain constant energy to offset the variable nature of solar and wind, while making progress towards the CO2 reductions.
The plan isn’t limited to the U.S. either. China is already planning 100 nuclear power plants. 28 are under construction now.
A total of $2.4 trillion will be spent to increase nuclear power generation in China by 6,600% alone.
Then there is the agreement Obama personally oversaw in India earlier this year. India plans a $182 billion expansion of its nuclear industry.
On a global scale 437 nuclear reactors are operational, with 65 under construction and 165 planned. This puts the expansion of nuclear energy sources at 37.75%, right as large uranium supply deficits are appearing at current demand levels.
Long version short: Oil and coal are out, renewables and nuclear are in, and the Keystone XL pipeline is being nixed in favor of “Obama’s Secret Pipeline.”
