Canada: Obama’s Keystone cop-out
Obama played politics and nixed Keystone on environmental grounds, a cynical move designed to win the votes and money of the green movement, said Ezra Levant at the Calgary Sun.
Ezra Levant
Calgary Sun
President Obama would rather do business with dictatorships than with democracies, said Ezra Levant. That’s the message he sent out last week by rejecting the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. The project would have delivered 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada’s tar sands to refineries on Texas’s Gulf Coast, “which is almost precisely the amount of oil Venezuela now ships to the United States.” That trade pumps about $30 billion a year into the Venezuelan regime’s coffers, money that President Hugo Chávez uses to suppress his own citizens and fund narco-terrorists in neighboring Colombia.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“With one fell swoop, Obama could have replaced” that conflict oil with “ethical oil” from Canada. Instead he played politics, and nixed Keystone on environmental grounds, a cynical move designed to win the votes and money of the green movement. “Obama’s decision is a disgrace, but it’s America’s business.”
Canada’s business now is to sell our oil to Asia. Doing so will fuel our future economic success, and prove to the world that we’re an independent country, not bound by the selfish whims of our southern neighbor. “It’s about self-respect—and it will make America respect us more too.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published