{"id":4488,"date":"2012-01-13T10:11:34","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T16:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=4488"},"modified":"2012-01-13T10:11:34","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T16:11:34","slug":"challenges-await-obama-as-keystone-decision-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/01\/13\/challenges-await-obama-as-keystone-decision-looms\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges Await Obama as Keystone Decision Looms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_1532\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 278px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"A map of the existing and proposed Keystone XL pipelines\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/11\/Keystone-Map.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1532\" title=\"Keystone Map\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/11\/Keystone-Map-300x323.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"278\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/11\/Keystone-Map-300x323.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/11\/Keystone-Map-220x237.jpg 220w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/11\/Keystone-Map.jpg 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 278px) 100vw, 278px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Map by NPR<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A map of the existing and proposed Keystone XL pipelines<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The president has around <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2012\/01\/11\/us-usa-keystone-pipeline-idUSTRE80A1EY20120111\">thirty days left<\/a> to make a decision on the controversial <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/tag\/keystone-xl-pipeline\/\">Keystone XL pipeline<\/a>, which would carry crude from the oil sands of Canada to refineries in Texas. It&#8217;s fast become a <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2011\/12\/30\/where-not-to-put-the-keystone-xl-pipeline\/\">dividing line between industry and environmentalists<\/a>, and the decision is coming at the beginning of an election year.<\/p>\n<p>How is Obama weighing the decision? What are the pros and cons running through his mind? And what\u00a0repercussions\u00a0await if he says no to the pipeline?<\/p>\n<p>NPR has taken an<a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2012\/01\/12\/145111911\/heavy-lobbying-before-keystone-oil-pipeline-decision?sc=tw\"> in-depth look at these questions<\/a>, hearing from industry and environmentalists, both of whom feel they have much at stake in the decision:<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;&#8221;The Keystone XL pipeline will be a presidential election issue and will likely play out much broader,&#8221; observed Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, at a recent industry event in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>Gerard predicts the pipeline issue will even show up in local political races. As if to ensure that, his group started running a TV ad this week in Midwestern states. It encourages people to call or write Obama, and tell him to approve the pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>Ads from opponents, concerned about pollution associated with tar sands oil, are more difficult to find. They&#8217;re generally low-budget affairs, like one on YouTube featuring hand puppets. It includes a portrayal of old men around a boardroom table plotting to get the pipeline approved by hiring &#8220;the best PR company money can buy.&#8221;&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2012\/01\/12\/145111911\/heavy-lobbying-before-keystone-oil-pipeline-decision?sc=tw\">more at NPR<\/a>\u00a0and read our <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/tag\/keystone-xl-pipeline\/\">explainer of the Keystone XL pipeline<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The president has around thirty days left to make a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude from the oil sands of Canada to refineries in Texas. It&#8217;s fast become a dividing line between industry and environmentalists, and the decision is coming at the beginning of an election year. How is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":1532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[73,21],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4488"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4495,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4488\/revisions\/4495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}