Keystone XL Update

Charlie Pierce is in Nebraska lately to report on the Keystone XL pipeline progress - or lack thereof.

[T]he past week was a blessed relief from the incredible carnival of fools now playing out in our national politics. It is one battle among hundreds, but it is being fought with all the right weapons, especially that much-derided one…politics. It was refreshing to be around.

[...]

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA—Above the main doors of the state capitol building here are carved the following words:

The salvation of the state is the watchfulness of the citizen.

[...]

[S]ome citizens [...] a fascinating mix of Native peoples, ranchers, farmers, retirees, environmentalists, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents [...] got watchful and they noticed that TransCanada, the energy behemoth, was not acting in good faith at least in presenting the economic effects, and that their state government apparently didn't care very much about that, so they organized, and sued, and marched, and sued some more, and marched some more, and they finally jammed up the project to the point where President Barack Obama squashed it. Then the election happened, and the Keystone project got energized again because Americans elected a vulgar talking yam who doesn't care to know very much about anything. The citizens sued again, and they marched again, and, this week, they brought almost 500,000 public comments to the offices of the Nebraska Public Services Commission, all of which asked that the Keystone XL pipeline project be killed really most sincerely dead for good and all.

They may not win. It's still a pick 'em on whether the PSC will come down on their side or not. But their movement will go on because it lives up to the words carved into the capitol of their state.

[...]

Yes, Nebraska went for the president* with nearly 60 percent of the vote, and that was a shame. I suspect many of the people fighting the pipeline the hardest may have voted for him. America can be a puzzle sometimes.

  Charles P Pierce

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.