If U.S. Kills Keystone Pipeline, The Chinese Win: Niall Ferguson
Energy is about to reenter the political arena.
Tomorrow President Obama will announce broad new climate initiatives to address global warming. And his administration is expected to make a final decision on the Keystone Pipeline later this summer or in early fall.
The proposed 1,700 mile $7 billion project, which would bring 700,000 gallons of oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast each day, has been controversial since day one. Environmentalists call foul saying that extracting and producing tar sands oil emits greenhouse gasses and permanently damages the ecosystem. Others say that the pipeline would create jobs and make the U.S. less dependent on overseas oil.
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Niall Ferguson, historian and author of The Great Degeneration, believes that the pipeline extension would be good for the United States. “The energy revolution is a North American phenomenon,” he tells The Daily Ticker. “It’s a very positive thing- and I think the Canadians would justifiably be dismayed if in the end the whole Keystone project is shot down and that has strategic implications.”
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Canada has alternatives, Ferguson explains, like China. “Let us be clear- there is a race on for commodities and particularly for fossil fuels and China is moving very fast.” He says the Chinese are our main strategic rivals.
So does Niall Ferguson believe that President Obama will eventually approve the pipeline extension? Watch the video above to find out!
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