Only the third veto of his presidency, Mr. Obama used it to veto the bill Repugnants hoped would force him to authorize the Keystone Pipeline. The veto was delivered as promised, nevertheless the pipeline's rejection was a welcomed relief for environmentalists. The President still retains the executive authority to approve the pipeline himself. Now that appears unlikely given his previous statements concerning the project that would pour more global warming CO₂ into the atmosphere. He is awaiting the completion of all environmental reviews before making a final decision, and has said a critical factor in his decision is whether the project will contribute significantly to global warming. That consequence is beyond dispute. In a recent letter the EPA concluded building the project could result in as much as 1.37 billion more tons of greenhouse gas being released into the atmosphere over the pipeline's fifty-year lifespan. The reality is that the pipeline has become a political football taking on a significance far beyond the need for additional fossil fuel claimed by congressional conservatives representing the oil industry.
In his State of the Union address, the President said the nation should move beyond building a single pipeline to making a comprehensive plan for infrastructure that would presumably include replacing the nation's decrepid electricity grid and installing more clean energy power generation. For their part, Repugnants have promised to lable him a partisan obstructionist. Environmentalists will continue their demonstrations and lobbying efforts to insure the pipeline is not built during his administration. Mr. Obama is under no legal obligation to make a decision on the project during his remaining term in office. Besides healthcare 'reform' the President wants to make climate change action part of his administration's legacy; just saying no to Keystone would be a major message to a world struggling to agree on action.