thedailywhat:

Keystone Expansion Rejection of the Day: President Obama today rejected the Keystone tar sands pipeline expansion proposal, blaming House Republicans for imposing an “arbitrary” 60-day deadline on the State Department to review the project.

The language inserted into last year’s payroll tax legislation required the review to be completed by February 21st.

“This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline,” said the President in a statement, “but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people.”

He went on to emphasize his administration’s “commitment to American-made energy that creates jobs and reduces our dependence on oil.”

Earlier today, White House press secretary Jay Carney called to insertion of the deadline a “purely partisan” move.

“On issues like this there is a nonpolitical, professional process that has been in place, was established long before this administration came to office and is the proper way to conduct the reviews for applications for permits for these kinds of transnational projects,” Carney told reporters.

As soon as word of the impending rejection began to spread, House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders went on the offensive, blasting Obama for “breaking his promise to create jobs.”

Boehner vowed to keep fighting for the pipeline, and a knowledgeable source told Reuters Keystone XL company TransCanada “can always reapply.”

It’s worth noting that, aside from the environmental concerns of expanding the Keystone pipeline to deliver “dirty fuel” from the tar sands of Alberta all the way to Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, its construction won’t actually increase the United States’ oil supply for many years to come.

[politico: 1,2 / ap / reuters / think.]