Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., supports building the Keystone XL pipeline, but faulted President Obama for “waffling” on the pipeline and described Obama’s trip to Cushing, Okla., as “idiotic.”
“They don’t build statues to wafflers,” Cardoza said after saying that Obama’s trip in support of the southern half of Keystone was just “highlighting a waffle,” according to Roll Call. Obama’s State Department initially blocked the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline — stretching frm Cushing, Okla., to the Gulf of Mexico — citing the need for more environmental studies and a new route for the northern portion of the pipeline.
TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, circumvented the State Department regulators by declaring that the Cushing pipeline has “independent value to the marketplace,” regardless of whether the full Keystone pipeline is ever built. Obama visited the site of the Cushing pipeline as part of an effort to tout his “all of the above” energy policy in the face of criticism over high gas prices and blocking the Keystone pipeline.
“I think it’s the most idiotic political move I’ve ever seen,” Cardoza said, saying that Obama commit to a position and not change, according to Roll Call.
