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Kerry nomination cause for guarded optimism re: Keystone XL
Upon the announcement of John Kerry's nomination for SOS, environmentalists scoured Kerry's resume for clues as to how it might affect the future of the Keystone XL pipeline. A post in GD yesterday claimed John Kerry has ties to the project. But the information in the source (HuffPo) doesn't warrant that conclusion: TransCanada has hired former Kerry staffers in an influence-peddling PR attempt. It's standard practice, and hardly an indication of "ties".
Kerry is considered a climate hawk, and leaves no ambiguity with this statement regarding climate change:
We should be compelled to fight today’s insidious conspiracy of silence on climate change—a silence that empowers misinformation and mythology to grow where science and truth should prevail. It is a conspiracy that has not just stalled, but demonized any constructive effort to put America in a position to lead the world on this issue, as President Bush promised we would and as Americans have a right to expect we will.
http://www.kerry.senate.gov/press/release/?id=99bb3f7a-cf20-4c1d-ae59-b9baedda1cb1
Nonetheless, Kerry may be too pragmatic to accept drastic action on climate. In October he met with NASA climatologist James Hansen who proposed fee-and-dividend, a tax-neutral carbon scheme which penalizes carbon hogs while rewarding carbon misers. Despite widespread support from climate scientists and a house bill currently in committee, the Managed Carbon Price Act of 2012, Kerry called the idea "unrealistic".
How this will play out in relation to Keystone is yet unknown. Joe Romm in ThinkProgress today:
I’m not sure Kerry could become Secretary of State fast enough to influence the Keystone XL pipeline decision, but it is hard to believe he would not have raised this issue with the President, since a go-ahead decision would immediately undercut the Administration’s credibility on the climate issue both at home and abroad.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/12/16/1342191/obama-to-name-climate-hawk-john-kerry-secretary-of-state/
