President Obama recently announced his decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline project application, a decision that has been in the works for 7 long years. Just hours after the decision was announced Fort McMurray Mayor Melissa Blake expressed her disappointment with the decision. Blake explained that Obama’s decision was not a big surprise but that it was a setback and a disappointment for the region. “It sort of had lead indicators all along that it probably wouldn’t find success. I think it’s unfortunate, because it doesn’t really round out (with) the evidence.” Many in Wood Buffalo and the United States believe that the decision by President Obama was motivated by politics instead of evidence and sound science.

The announcement about the Keystone XL pipeline by President Obama stated “Today we’re continuing to lead by example. Ultimately, if we’re going to prevent large parts of this earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we’re going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them.” Obama also called the oil product “dirtier crude oil.”. According to John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, the pipeline would “facilitate transportation into our country of a particularly dirty source of fuel.” The decision comes as no surprise. Many have accused the Obama administration of playing fast and loose with the true facts involved in climate change and the role that oil and natural gas play in this change. Mayor Blake stated “Fundamentally, I would expect that people become a lot more informed than what they have been. It (shouldn’t) be a simple point-the-finger at the oilsands and blame them, it should be looking at the holistic approach and saying how do we as a nation make improvements in our (environmental) performance.”