JK, Keystone Pipeline, and Charlie Pierce

[MBS]

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Latest_On_The_Pipeline

As Charlie Pierce said, from their lips to god's ears. Hang in there, Secretary Kerry; you're right, as usual. Please keep the President on the right path for us.

It appears that a Great Sad has descended on some of the supporters in Washington of our old friend, the Keystone XL pipeline. From their lips, of course, to god's ears.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said Friday that he is not holding out much hope that President Obama will approve the Keystone XL pipeline. "Though normally a pretty good optimist, I am not overly optimist [sic] that the president will allow the Keystone XL to move forward despite Nebraska's reroute of the pipeline thru their state," Upton said in a live Web chat on Michigan news website Mlive.com

. . .
Apparently, the dismals have come to chairman Upton and his compatriots because the president appointed John Kerry to be Secretary Of State, and Kerry already has voted against approving the pipeline, and because the president talked about climate change in his inaugural address. . . .
What will happen if the president and Secretary Kerry put the kibosh on the pipeline is going to be the mother of all hissy fits. The pipeline is an article of faith on the Republican right, not because it will necessarily improve this country's energy policy, but because refusing to build it would be a triumph for almost everyone the Republican right hates, and that hate is what propels conservative politics.