Americans Support Keystone Pipeline 3-1

MSNBC talker Ed Schultz flip-flopped on his support for the Keystone pipeline this week. Previously Schultz supported the project, but perhaps realizing that disagreeing with President Obama and the environmental left on much of anything is a poor business decision in the world of progressive media he changed his tune.

Which puts him squarely in the minority nationally as this poll indicates most Americans support building the pipeline:

Americans support the idea of constructing the Keystone XL oil pipelinebetween Canada and the United States by a nearly 3 to 1 margin, with 65 percent saying it should be approved and 22 percent opposed, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The findings also show that the public thinks the massive project, which aims to ship 830,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta and the northern Great Plains to refineries on the Gulf Coast, will produce significant economic benefits. Eighty-five percent say the pipeline would create a significant number of jobs, with 62 percent saying they “strongly” believed that to be the case. …

That so many Americans back the pipeline, even with environmental risks, highlights the quandary facing President Obama and his top aides as they weigh whether to approve the proposal.

The politics of this process that has, *ahem*, been “thoroughly insulated” from politics, is that while most Americans agree the pipeline should be built, most of them probably aren’t going to make election day decisions on the issue.

This is about as strong a majority as you’ll see for any hotly-debated political issue in America. But elections have consequences, and for better or worse President Obama feels it more important to pander to a minority of environmental extremists than the pragmatic reality of the majority.