×

No excuse left on Keystone pipeline

Enough is enough – unless, apparently, you are President Barack Obama, determined to please your radical environmentalist supporters. But what about the rest of us? Are other Americans not entitled to some consideration?

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency revealed it can find no reason to reject the proposed Keystone XL pipeline for environmental reasons.

The pipeline would carry hundreds of thousands of barrels of Canadian oil to the U.S. every day. But throughout his presidency, Obama has stalled on making a decision on whether to approve construction. His excuse has been that the State Department needed to complete a review of the project’s environmental impacts.

Now that the review is complete, Obama’s next step is to approve the pipeline, right?

Wrong. The White House says numerous federal agencies and the public must weigh in on the project. So must Secretary of State John Kerry.

This situation has gotten far beyond ridiculous. There is no reason not to approve the pipeline. Yet Obama seems determined to delay until frustrated Canadians sign long-term contracts to sell their oil to China.

It is time for Congress to call a halt to Obama’s delay strategy. The pipeline will be good for Americans – and it is time to allow construction to begin.

Some Ohio legislators have entirely the wrong attitude about a massive scandal involving public schools in Columbus. They should not be worrying as much about that city as other school districts.

It appears both Democrat and Republican leaders in the General Assembly view the Columbus situation as a wake-up call. Good. The only question now is what to do about it.

As you probably are aware, an 18-month investigation revealed widespread lying about data involving students in Columbus schools. Hundreds of them had F grades changed to D’s. School administrators lied on a variety of other matters, including attendance.

One lawmaker, state Rep. Michael Stinzano, D-Columbus, cautioned against “immediate legislative action.” He pointed out Columbus schools have new leadership,

Again, Columbus is the last place about which lawmakers should worry. If cheating by school administrators was going on there, what rational adult can believe it is not occurring elsewhere?

Fortunately, other lawmakers do want “immediate legislative action.” Among proposals they are considering is one for a sort of watchdog agency to audit school districts periodically, in order to catch administrators who submit false reports to the state.

That is an excellent idea. Ohioans need to be able to rely on the accuracy – the honesty – of reports purporting to show how well schools perform.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today