Keystone Pipeline

There is a lot of oil in Western Canada, but Canadians don't have the local infrastructure nor facilities to refine it. They want to sell it, and the two obvious best customers are China and the United States. While the oil is concentrated in Western Canada, it is not on the coast. To be shipped by sea, it would have to be transported overland to terminals on the Pacific coast. From there, it could be shipped in tankers to China or to the US. If it is shipped to the US, it would have to go around the southern tip of South America to come up into the US Gulf Coast, where the US complex of refineries and petrochemical plants are located. The Suez Canal can't handle big tankers. Alternative shipment to the US Gulf Coast could be done by pipeline, which is the basis for all of the hubbub.
Environmentalists oppose bringing Canadian crude into the US for refining into motor fuels and ancillary products, because it would increase the burning of such fossil fuels, with the attendant liberation of carbon dioxide. Let's remember two things about carbon dioxide; one political and one fact. The environmental movement in the United States has been taken over by communist/ socialist sympathizers. Their agenda is to reduce the economic importance of the US; in effect, a redistribution of wealth. They also have considerable financial resources and support Democrats in reelection. President Obama and Democrats owe much to environmentalists for their  reelection. As an instrument to foster their objective of wealth distribution, environmentalists have also developed a myth, which claims that carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels leads to climate change. There is absolutely no scientific data or reasonable theory to justify this position, but because of its fear aspects, it has tended to receive significant support from the general public, which then radiates into the people's political representatives, such as federal Representatives and Senators. In essence, Democrats have two reasons to oppose increased usage of fossil fuels, including the Keystone pipeline which would bring Canadian crude to the US Gulf Coast. These are the desire for continued financial support of environmentalists in reelections, and the fact that many of them actually believe the carbon dioxide myth.
An executive order signed in 1968 gave the U.S. State Department the authority to approve or deny cross-border facilities, including oil pipelines and electricity transmission lines. Since the Secretary of State works for Pres. Obama, approval or disapproval of the Keystone pipeline lies with him. However, constitutional authority of the U.S. Congress, allows it the right to overturn this executive order.
House Republicans have for several years been in favor of approving the Keystone pipeline, but Harry Reid's Democratic Senate has not allowed a floor vote. More recently, and with the old Democratic majority Senate and Harry Reid still in session, Democrat Sen. Landrieu of Louisiana broke party lines and asked for a floor vote on the pipeline. Senate Democrats immediately began a filibuster to deny bringing the issue to vote. Sen. Landrieu had all 45 Republicans and 14 Democrats on her side to break the Democratic filibuster, but it was insufficient to the required 60 votes. The Senate did not take a floor vote on the pipeline. The question then arises as to whether a favorable Senate vote can be developed in January with the new Senate in which Republicans will be a majority. It is generally conceded that Pres. Obama would veto any congressional bill to approve the pipeline and that despite the increased Republican representation in the Congress, there will not be enough votes to override his veto.
The question then arises as to whether the Keystone pipeline will ever become operable. It appears unlikely that it will gain approval in the near future and justify continued capital expenditure by the owners. The next key date for a possible turnaround will be the 2016 elections. A new Democratic president will likely continue the stalemate, while a new Republican president will probably sign a congressional bill allowing operation of the pipeline. Will the Canadians wait another two years for a conjectural decision on the pipeline, commence building infrastructure and refineries for their own processing, or build the port facilities for shipments to China?