Dear Friends,

I watched Meet the Press from last Sunday and was very disappointed in Senator Klobuchar in her response to where she stands on the Keystone XL Pipeline.  Here is her response:

Well, I believe that this project has merit. But I still don't think that Congress should be in the business of deciding where a pipeline is located. I think the president needs to make a decision. A lot of us are frustrated that it has taken this long.

I believe the proper response to that question is "I oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline because it is terrible for the environment, it will not provide any energy independence, it will only provide 35 permanent jobs, and it will raise gasoline prices in Minnesota."

Senator Klobuchar also failed to correct Senator Barrasso's statement that it would create 42,000 new jobs.  The statistic that he was referring to has been proven to be incorrect many times and refers to job years created during the construction period and is about 35,000.  A job year is one job for one year so if the job exists for three years of construction that was counted as three jobs.

Senator Klobuchar said that she was frustrated that it has taken so long to make a decision.  I am frustrated that President Obama has taken so long too, but I am willing to say he should reject the pipeline.  Senator Klobuchar simply says he should make a decision.  Apparently she has no opinion on the pipeline other than it has merit which sounds a lot like support.  I think that she has a bad case of now I am in a leadership position so I should not say anything too definitive.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal