Been thinking about this ever since he did it. Seems odd doesn't it, to turn down a project that the unions wanted, thousands of new, good-paying jobs, and importing oil from a freindly neighbor rather than an unfriendly country elsewhere. Well, maybe we now have the answer, the rest of the story. It comes from a San Francisco newspaper story a month back, basically says it was about money.
snippet:
Now we know that the decision to reject the Keystone pipeline really came down to the desires of one ultra-wealthy person: Susie Tompkins Buell, a leading donor to Democrats:
Buell, a co-founder of the Esprit clothing company, has donated millions of dollars to Democratic causes and presidential candidates, including Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Al Gore and her good friend, Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the past 10 years, she has given $25 million to progressive political and charitable causes and has raised $10 million for candidates and committees, her office said.
.
.
So Ms. Buell took to the streets (very tidy, upscale streets, to be sure) to protest:
In October, Buell made headlines after she led a protest of monied Democrats in San Francisco against the controversial 1,700-mile Keystone XL oil pipeline. Her fellow protesters outside an Obama fundraiser included Michael Kieschnick, co-founder of CREDO Mobile and Working Assets, which has donated $75 million to progressive causes; IT executive David desJardins; and Anna Hawken McKay, wife of Rob McKay, a wealthy philanthropist whose father founded Taco Bell.
The Democrats, who could have easily afforded the $5,000-a-plate Obama fundraiser, stood on the curb outside the W Hotel as Buell delivered a tough assessment of the president: I dont know where he stands on anything, she said.
And, like magic, that was the end of Keystone:
Kieschnick said Buells decision to take an aggressive stance was pivotal to the eventual outcome a White House announcement last month that the application for the pipeline from the Canadian province of Alberta to Texas refineries would be rejected.
Before her involvement, the powers that be clearly dismissed our concerns about the long-term environmental impacts of the pipeline, said Kieschnick, who has known Buell for 20 years. People inside the White House clearly noticed, he said. Then they realized this was not only bad policy, this was bad politics.
Obama losing financial backing of big S.F. donor
snippet:
Now we know that the decision to reject the Keystone pipeline really came down to the desires of one ultra-wealthy person: Susie Tompkins Buell, a leading donor to Democrats:
Buell, a co-founder of the Esprit clothing company, has donated millions of dollars to Democratic causes and presidential candidates, including Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Al Gore and her good friend, Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the past 10 years, she has given $25 million to progressive political and charitable causes and has raised $10 million for candidates and committees, her office said.
.
.
So Ms. Buell took to the streets (very tidy, upscale streets, to be sure) to protest:
In October, Buell made headlines after she led a protest of monied Democrats in San Francisco against the controversial 1,700-mile Keystone XL oil pipeline. Her fellow protesters outside an Obama fundraiser included Michael Kieschnick, co-founder of CREDO Mobile and Working Assets, which has donated $75 million to progressive causes; IT executive David desJardins; and Anna Hawken McKay, wife of Rob McKay, a wealthy philanthropist whose father founded Taco Bell.
The Democrats, who could have easily afforded the $5,000-a-plate Obama fundraiser, stood on the curb outside the W Hotel as Buell delivered a tough assessment of the president: I dont know where he stands on anything, she said.
And, like magic, that was the end of Keystone:
Kieschnick said Buells decision to take an aggressive stance was pivotal to the eventual outcome a White House announcement last month that the application for the pipeline from the Canadian province of Alberta to Texas refineries would be rejected.
Before her involvement, the powers that be clearly dismissed our concerns about the long-term environmental impacts of the pipeline, said Kieschnick, who has known Buell for 20 years. People inside the White House clearly noticed, he said. Then they realized this was not only bad policy, this was bad politics.
Obama losing financial backing of big S.F. donor
