Open thread: Obama, Biden presser to reject Keystone pipeline

The White House announced that Barack Obama and Joe Biden have scheduled a live statement for 11:45 am ET this morning, so plan to tune in around 12:10 or so when they arrive. Why the high-profile treatment? The Wall Street Journal says Obama will announce the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline:

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MarketWatch got the same information:

A hastily-called press conference has been set for President Barack Obama to announce the rejection of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from TransCanada[.] The White House has said Obama will speak at 11:45 a.m. after meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry, whose agency had the responsibility to make the decision.

Business Insider says that the White House specified only that it’s about Keystone:

Though the White House did not reveal what Obama will announce, The Wall Street Journal’s Amy Harder reported that the administration will reveal its position on the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Associated Press has three sources that says it’s definitely a rejection:

The Obama administration has rejected Canadian energy giant TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

That’s according to three sources familiar with the decision who aren’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

No one thought that this would turn out well for TransCanada, did they? Their request this week to “pause” consideration of the pipeline while they worked with Nebraska on a path got roundly rejected by the Obama administration, which made it clear enough that environmental issues connected to the pipeline itself weren’t the big hurdle. Obama wanted to kill off the pipeline to promote his credibility as a warrior against anthropogenic global warming (ABW), but seemed very reluctant to stand up to Stephen Harper to do so. Harper’s departure as PM in Canada has made it easier for Obama to assert himself, which is … pathetic.

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Anyway, be sure to tune in for the Obama/Biden presser. Why include Biden rather than Kerry? He’s there to soften the blow with unions, who will be pretty angry over the loss of tens of thousands of skilled-labor jobs. That’s even more pathetic, especially for a lame-duck President.

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