The Keystone XL Pipeline extension provides President Barack Obama a chance to put his money where his mouth is regarding global warming — and he’s squandering it.

The Keystone XL Pipeline was first proposed in 2008 as an extension to the original Keystone Pipeline, which is already operational. The purpose of the pipeline system is to transport oil sands from Canada to refineries in Texas and other parts of the United States —35 million gallons of it every day.

Obama should not defer his decision on the authorization of the Keystone XL Pipeline extension to the U.S. Department of State. Unfortunately, he’s already indicated that this is his plan of attack regarding the contentious environmental issue.

The XL extension has been the subject of controversy in the United States primarily because of greenhouse gas emissions and potential oil spill concerns.

Obama announced in June that he would not authorize the project to move forward if the State Department indicated it would “significantly” increase greenhouse gas emissions. Here’s the catch — prior to Obama’s announcement, the State Department had issued a draft study indicating that environmental impact would be minimal.

But the findings of the State Department’s draft study are highly disputed by environmental scientists.

The consensus is that the Keystone Pipeline would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions. Compared to the extraction of conventional oil, greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands are roughly 12 percent higher, according to the Jacobs Engineering Group.

“To say that the tar sands have little climate impact is an absurdity. The total carbon in tar sands exceeds that in all oil burned in human history,” James Hansen, NASA’s former top climate scientist, said in a March article from USA Today.

This raises questions as to why the study, on which Obama claims he will base his decision, is being led by the government rather than a politically disinterested independent organization.

In addition to an inherent political conflict of interest, the State Department draft study was accused by Mother Jones of covering up the study’s author’s previous involvement with TransCanada — an oil company with obvious economic interest in the study’s findings.

For such an influential study, this is an alarming degree of bias.

If Obama genuinely wants to get tougher on greenhouse gas emissions in his second term like he claims, then he shouldn’t be leaving one of the most important decisions regarding this issue essentially up to the State Department.

This issue perfectly illustrates the problem facing energy policy in the United States today. Obama’s decision will ultimately come down to semantics. He’ll likely make a political decision on what he thinks polls best and then manipulate the word “significant.”

It may not make political sense for Obama to halt the project. Doing so would cost jobs, and the latest unemployment figures aren’t pretty.

If authorized, the project would result in lower gas prices as a result of increased supply. It also provides an opportunity for the United States to rely less on the Middle East for oil.

It’s frustrating that Obama is coming across as afraid to assume more of a leadership position on this consequential issue. If Obama really wanted to find the likely environmental impact, he has the resources to do so himself in a timely manner, without the State Department.

As with all of the pressing environmental issues confronting this generation, collective action problems persist and prevent nations from being proactive in curbing their carbon footprints. Even if the United States chooses not to authorize the XL extension, it’s likely that the Canadian oil sands will be exploited by a different country — possibly even China.

Until there are enough effective, multilateral agreements between countries regarding greenhouse gas emissions in the world today, there’s a compelling argument that the United States should use all of the energy resources available, regardless of environmental impact.

An equally compelling argument is that if the United States doesn’t start to take more of a leadership role on these issues, no one will until it’s too late to curb global warming.

Obama should do what he thinks is right, not what the polls say is popular. After all, isn’t that what second terms are for?

Ethan Demers is a senior political science and history major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at [email protected]. 

Published on July 19, 2013 at 10:56 am