May 18, 2021
HAVING LEARNED THE KEYSTONE LESSON:
Biden administration decides not to sanction company building controversial Russian gas pipeline (Kylie Atwood, Natasha Bertrand and Nicole Gaouette, May 18, 2021, CNN)
Instead the administration will sanction some of the smaller entities involved in the project, including some Russian companies and ships that have been helping in the construction. But the administration has decided to issue a national security waiver for the major company involved in the construction of the pipeline-- Nord Stream 2 AG, which is a registered Swiss firm whose parent company is the Russian gas giant Gazprom.There was an intense back-and-forth over the decision and during the process the State Department prepared an assessment of what action would have been required to stop the pipeline, though the administration decided not to pursue that course, according to one source familiar with the process. It decided that stopping the pipeline was not worth blowing up the relationship with Germany given the many national security issues the two countries work on together, the source explained. The second source familiar with the situation said the decision was ultimately the White House's call.
Much of W's president traced to fixing his father's mistakes: cutting taxes; removing Saddam, appointing Harriet Miers, etc. Here's an instance of Joe avoiding an error the UR made. Keystone was never going to be built because of legal challenges, so President Obama could have thrown the wingnuts a bone. Likewise, the Green Party opposes Nordstream so it's dead. You can appear fexible with the nation of Germany will getting the proper result anyway.
Posted by Orrin Judd at May 18, 2021 7:49 PM