Democrat civil war over Keystone XL

Washington Examiner Editorial:

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After the decision, the White House fell back upon an even weaker explanation in upgrading its threat to veto the Keystone-related bill that passed the House on Friday with 28 Democratic votes. “Regardless of the Nebraska ruling today,” an Obama spokesman's statement read, “the House bill still conflicts with longstanding Executive branch procedures regarding the authority of the president and prevents the thorough consideration of complex issues that could bear on U.S. national interests[.]"

This is quite rich indeed. Suddenly, the president who spent so much time arguing that America “can't wait” for procedural snags — such as the lawmaking power of Congress — has become a stickler for “executive branch procedures.”

What's really at work here is a civil war within the Democratic Party. The pipeline puts two staple groups from the Democratic coalition at odds with one another. On the one side is the traditionally strong but now weak and dying labor movement. On the other is the growing constituency of urban white gentry liberals who make up the radical environmental movement.

The latter group has been traditionally less important, and its issue (global warming) generates far less interest among voters than that of the unions (jobs). But it also now packs a huge financial punch, thanks to hedge fund trader Tom Steyer, who spent more than $74 million helping Democrats in the November election on the specific condition that this pipeline be blocked.
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The decision by the Nebraska Supreme Court throwing out a law suit against the pipeline has left the President and the anti energy left with a thread bare cover for further dilatory tactics.  They have no rational excuse for opposing the pipeline.  It actually reduces pollution because the alternative is not to leave the oil in the ground but deleive it by other means.