In an op ed published last week in the New York Times, the National Post, and iPolitics, among other outlets, ex-New York mayor Michael Bloomberg urges President Barack Obama to use approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to negotiate a wide-ranging climate agreement with the Stephen Harper government in Canada.
“The Canadian government has been pressing the White House to approve the pipeline, which would bring many more economic benefits to Canada than it would to the U.S.,” Bloomberg writes. “That gives the White House enormous leverage, which it should use to negotiate a broader, climate-friendly deal that far more than offsets the potential impact of the pipeline.”
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Noting that Canada is America’s biggest oil supplier, and one of its closest allies, Bloomberg says a deal around Keystone would be a win for all.
“A U.S.-Canada agreement would position Canada as a leader on climate change, while also delivering a big economic boost to its economy,” he writes. “Here in the U.S., Republicans in Congress could declare economic victory, while Democrats could declare environmental victory. The president could declare both, while also burnishing his foreign policy legacy and building momentum for the conference in Paris.”
