Everyone has their own theory for why the Russian invasion of Crimea is Obama’s fault. Senator Lindsey Graham says it all began with Benghazi, but Representative Paul Ryan thinks it probably has something to do with the Keystone XL pipeline extension.
There’s more than one reason why that’s very dumb.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Wednesday argued that President Obama needs to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline because of the crisis in Ukraine. [...]
Ukraine is not actually in need of the oil that would be produced by building the Keystone pipeline. According to the Energy Information Administration, “Only a relatively small portion of the country’s total consumption is accounted for by petroleum and other liquid fuels.” And, since the Keystone XL pipeline would take years to build, there’s virtually no chance that it would be of use for the escalating Ukrainian crisis even if oil were in play.
I’m more or less a layman in regards to Eastern European economics and politics, which is why I haven’t said very much about the situation, but I do know enough to know that much of Europe relies on natural gas, not oil.
The Keystone XL pipeline extension is an oil pipeline, not a natural gas pipeline, and it would take years to build and even longer to begin delivering any of it to Europe.
But wait, haven’t Republicans and pipeline supporters framed the pipeline as an answer to America’s need for energy? Why would we (and by “we” I mean Canada) export the oil transported by the pipeline to other markets? Are you telling me that was the plan all along? Oh.
This will become an official GOP meme by the end of the week if not the end of the day.