Democratic donors press Obama to deny Keystone XL permit

[alp227]

Source: Washington Post

A group of 150 major Democratic donors and clean-energy investors are urging President Obama to deny a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, comparing the decision’s significance to Abraham Lincoln’s push to end slavery.

A letter from the group emphasized Obama’s respect for Lincoln and suggested that the controversial pipeline, which would transport heavy crude from Alberta to refineries on the Gulf Coast, marked a similar turning point in American history.

“He made one of the most important decisions of his presidency and for our nation when he decided that he would fight for the 13th Amendment to end slavery even if it took every ounce of his political capital,” the group wrote in the Thursday letter. “Your decision on Keystone may not be so weighty, but we believe it holds a comparable urgency and importance, not strictly as a pipeline decision but as a presidential choice that will signal a fundamentally new direction for our nation.”

The signatories include several well-known and wealthy liberal donors, including Esprit founder Susie Tompkins Buell, actress Blythe Danner and environmentalist Jayni Chase, the wife of comedian Chevy Chase.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democratic-donors-press-obama-to-deny-keystone-xl-permit/2013/05/10/c046d96a-b985-11e2-b94c-b684dda07add_story.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Maybe he'll listen to them.......

But I doubt it.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

3. What more does he need from them?

[Poll_Blind]

5. He already has what he wants from them. I suspect he'll work for the...

...interests of whomever he wants something from now.

PB

[AverageJoe90]

2. Good news.

Obama has just delayed the pipeline again recently, so there is definitely some valid reason to be.....*gasp*.....hopeful!

[iandhr]

4. "comparing the decision’s significance to Abraham Lincoln’s push to end slavery."

I hope he delays the pipeline but comparing it to slavery is just bad taste.