The Reasons Behind Obama’s Decision Rejecting the Keystone Pipeline

thedailybeast.com — Republicans could hardly pick their jaws off the floor when word leaked Wednesday that the White House would deny a controversial oil pipeline. House Speaker John Boehner sat shocked while his aides distributed outraged statements. News of the Keystone pipeline denial was surprising for one main reason. The last-minute congressional compromise over the payroll tax in December included a provision that compelled Obama to make a decision on Keystone XL within 60 days. That would prevent him, Republicans believed, from running out the clock until December, when the issue would no longer affect the election. But when given two months, Obama only took one. A White House aide suggests that there was no point in waiting the full stretch for a decision that was fairly obvious.

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