Keystone Pipeline--Greenies: 1 Business: 0

OK, so it's not the Keystone Pipeline. I'm still figuring out what I can and can't take from the web.

The expansion of the Keystone Pipeline has been rejected by the Obama Administration, according to CNN Money.

Well, that's fun. I don't know nearly enough about the project yet to make as informed a decision as I should, but apparently there wasn't enough time to review the standards before the deadline imposed by Congress passed. But this doesn't mean that the project is a total no-go.

Sounds like another stalemate by the administration. There is never enough time to "review" the standards or make a decision, or else decisions are made on the sly, such as the case of the new defense bill. (But that's for another day.)

Congress, even though they really suck right now (hello 13% approval rating), at least was trying to get something done. When jobs and the environment are at stake, it's time to act quickly, not run around conducting reviews. Get an initial assessment now, figure out if the expansion is a good idea based on that assessment, and then ACT. The end. People are not going to be happy on either side of the aisle if Obama flounders on making a final decision.

I'm all for helping protect the environment and not turning it into a black hole of pollution and despair. But I know more people who are looking for jobs (admittedly, not in construction nor the oil business) than are interested in throwing themselves in front of a bulldozer to save some trees. (Unless there are job openings for that, then I take my statement back.) The economy seems to be the No. 1 issue in the U.S. right now, not the environment. Why not jump start something that will help that? Figure out how to do it so it will have as little impact on the environment as possible, and get it going.