Keystone Doesn't Matter

Ken Caldiera (right); Computer Screen (left)

Ken Caldeira, climate researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, California, via Nature News:

“I don't believe that whether the pipeline is built or not will have any detectable climate effect. The Obama administration needs to signal whether we are going to move toward zero-emission energy systems or whether we are going to move forward with last century's energy systems.”

Of course, the Obama administration has already signaled.... it has no intention whatsoever of proposing anything like zero emissions -- that would take far more courage than any administration can possibly muster, even though they probably understand -- or at least a few people in their organization understand -- that it's necessary.

Instead, Obama has proposed just enough cuts -- not much at all, really -- to keep corporate donors happy, so that Hillary or Biden wins in 2016, and to keep the environmentalists lapping in the water dish, ever-hopeful for something -- anything -- to happen.

Slurp.