Keystone Pipeline safe for a little while

This morning, the Senate voted not to do the Keystone Pipeline.

Remarkably, President Obama seems to have switched party sides (Kerry is the one who is pushing for the pipeline) and the president hints that he would have vetoed it. He also said earlier that if it wouldn't significantly impact the environment, the he would approve it. Well, although the State Department investigation was performed by people employed by the oil company in charge of the pipeline, it did find that there would be no significant impact. Of course, then they removed the bios of the people involved in the investigation from their website "for privacy reasons."

Why should we see this as good news on two fronts? First, lets talk about all the jobs this would supposedly create. Right now, oil prices are low. OPEC refuses to stop pumping, and we in the West are only increasing our production. Adding more oil into the mix will make prices them lower. Already, some oil companies have been taking losses. How long before they begin cutting jobs? In addition, the part of the Keystone that is already in place will get less oil to process as its redirected to Louisiana. That means jobs will be lost in the MidWest (Illinois unemployment rate 6.6%) and gained in Louisiana (unemployment 6.0%).

Then there is the environmental impact. Now, I don't think carbon emissions cause global warming. But, I do see the dangers of an oil pipeline that runs across a fault line, one of the world's largest natural aquifers, and several large rivers. Not to mention the national parks and wildlife preserves. I also respect the rights of states to forbid the pipeline from crossing their boarders.