the blog quebecois

AP:

. . . by nature, they will like the strong horse.”

Well, Obama's in the stable, raping that pony to death.

The State Department is considering a plan that would reroute the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada away from environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska, an action that could delay a final decision on the project until after the 2012 election.

A U.S. official said told The Associated Press on Wednesday that rerouting the pipeline was a key issue that came up during public meetings and this fall in the six states through which the pipeline would run. The official asked not to be identified because no decision has been made.

Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. is seeking to build the $7 billion pipeline to carry oil derived from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast. A portion of the 1,700-mile pipeline would pass through Nebraska's Sandhills region and the massive Ogallala aquifer, which supplies water to eight states.

A State Department decision to reroute the pipeline would require an environmental review of the new section, a process that would likely push a final decision on the pipeline past the 2012 election.

Screw it. Let's start building the pipeline. West, not South. We can name it the Going-For-Barack China Express.

Ever noticed the similarity between "Ezra" and a "ninja?" One is a master of secrecy and disguise; the other is, well, Ezra.

Though he does do a dazzling Mary Walsh, so I guess that counts for something.

Big Peace:

Canada overtook Saudi Arabia as America’s biggest oil supplier in the Nineties, and many U.S. politicians and business leaders have been pressing for approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would ship an additional million barrels of Canadian oil from the oil sands to U.S. markets every day. Though the State Department had ruled the pipeline to be environmentally safe and in America’s national interest, President Barack Obama refused last week to approve the pipeline, maintaining that it required more study and delaying the decision till after the 2012 election. Critics say the president had buckled to the anti-oil environmentalists in his left-wing base.

The Ethical Oil ad points out that by importing Saudi oil, “we bankrolled a state that doesn’t allow women to drive, doesn’t allow them to leave their homes or work without their make guardian’s permission, and a state where a woman’s testimony only counts for a half of a man’s.” It concludes by asking, “Why are we paying their bills and funding their oppression?” when there is a “better way: ethical oil from Canada’s oil sands.”

Sun News:

EDMONTON - A decision to drop provincial support for the proposed $7 billion Alberta First Nations Energy Centre had taxpayer interests in mind, a spokesman for Alberta Energy said Friday.

"There was just too high a degree of uncertainty around it. It was too great a risk for government to take on behalf of taxpayers," said Bart Johnson.

In a meeting Feb. 8 with the Grand Treaty Chiefs, Alberta Energy Minister Ted Morton said the province couldn't commit to the Teedrum Inc., project not knowing what the ultimate costs and benefits would be, nor if the project was viable.

"It's a huge investment, and if government is going to get involved, then we need the assurance that it's viable," Johnson said.

I'd be interested in seeing that "business plan." I'll bet it looks something like:

1) Give us seven billion dollars. No, wait. Make it $10 billion. Stuff happens.

2) ?????????

3) Profit!

inews880:

In the wake of the recent Alberta oil spill, a local Member of Parliament is taking issue with the pipeline monitoring system.

MP for Edmonton-Strathcona Linda Duncan says it's the responsibility of both the provincial and federal governments to ensure pipelines are safe. She says the province needs federal resources.

"If things were under control, we wouldn't have these pipelines breaking and causing the spills," Duncan says. "After the fact just isn't good enough."

Duncan says that oil spills should never happen in the first place. She's particularly concerned that residents in the Sundre area reported the leak before it was detected by Plains Midstream Canada.

"This is about the fourth or fifth pipeline break where it's been ordinary citizens who've identified the problem."

Indeed. An important issue here, surely deserving of the scrutiny of experts on the matter. To this end, I nominate none other than MP Linda Duncan. She'll be equipped with a pith helmet (all your outdoor types have one), a pair of binoculars (for studying the thousands of kilometers of pipelines), and a whistle (to alert us if she finds anything).

Also a T-shirt with big orange letters spelling out "I AM NOT A LOON. DON'T SHOOT ME," which is always a prudent thing to do when releasing NDP people into the wild. Though based on her photo, it'll most often be a judgment call.

Shocking revelation from the noted scholar Christy Clark -- silly me, being quite anal, I had thought that the Constitution was the law of the land; now I see that it contains only some useful Suggestions.

And so in that light, some Suggestions for Alberta:

I'm not really sure what BC sells (Wikipedia wasn't much help), but I'm guessing:

a) Salmon (I think it's their No. 1 product, because they never stop talking about it);
b) BC Bud, and;
c) Bryan Adams and Nickelback songs (most in CD format, though there are still plenty of cassettes and 8-tracks available).

Needless to say, these products should be intercepted and seized at the Alberta border, lest they pollute innocent young Albertan minds. Of particular concern is the latter which is rightfully classed as hazardous waste.

And now that Alberta knows that the Constitution means whatever they want it to be, many exciting avenues open up. This business of equalization payments should be going out of business real soon. The billions they save can buy some real friends south and north of the border. Tanker traffic can depart via Alaska, diverting only to pull a few doughnuts in Vancouver Harbor, loudly honking the horn before speeding off to China popping maximum wheelies.

And our beloved "First Nations"? Damned generous for that Soros fellow to pick up the tab for them. I think he'll find that with proper care and feeding, they'll grow up to be . . . well, not much, really.

But all sales are final. Enjoy!

CBC:

Should B.C. Premier Christy Clark follow through her promise to block the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline if her conditions for the project aren't met, Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod says he would be prepared to step in and support a "northern route" that would see bitumen shipped from Alberta north to the N.W.T. and out to Asia.

That's because the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, a $16.2-billion project intended to transport natural gas from the Beaufort Sea through the Northwest Territories, south to a hub in northwestern Alberta and out to North American markets, has been put on hold after its investors suspended the funding.

In an interview that aired Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, McLeod said his preference is to see the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project go ahead but if the project is dead then he is prepared to look at "all the possibilities."

There's more than one way to skin a Clark, it seems. As I predicted, we'll build North. The premiers (and Alaska, if needbe) will be on board with this; and as Ezra Levant pointed out a month or so ago, the native land claims are all settled and the First Nations are almost like a different breed from their spoiled southern cousins -- entrepreneurial and eager to buy in. And they haven't forgotten or forgiven the roles played by Greenpeace et. al. in destroying the seal and fur industries.

As a bonus, when it comes to sabotage, it'll be very entertaining watching all those Starbucks warriors stumbling around in the muskeg, being eaten alive by mosquitoes and black flies. ( For the al-Qaida types who decide [and they will, count on it] to tag along, a more merciful fate -- Shoot, Shovel, and Shut Up.)

International Business Daily:

House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., infuriated Canadian conservatives this week by alleging that Canadians do not want the Keystone XL pipeline to be constructed -- a statement she reportedly made while raising doubts about the true value of the controversial oil pipeline.

Well, Nancy, you know what they say -- sometimes you have to build the pipe to find out what's in it.