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AT Alt Causes: OilOil prices lowAssociated Press 7/28 ("Low energy prices hurt oil firms, 7/28/12, Daily News, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/low-energy-prices-hurt-oil-firms.aspx?pageID=238&nID=26417&NewsCatID=348) Global oil prices fall more than 40 percent The company’s sales fell to $117.1 billion from $121.2 billion a year ago. The main reason for the fall was lower oil prices: prices are down more than 40 percent from the second quarter of 2011. At Shell’s production arm, earnings fell 23 percent to $4.69 billion from $6.06 billion. The company’s shares were down 3.7 percent at ?26.875 in Amsterdam. “Maintenance and outage issues have put pressure on the upstream business, whilst the deterioration in the oil price of late has weakened profitability,” said analyst Keith Bowman of Hargreaves Landsdown in London. “At a time when investors are looking towards blue chip reliability, the disappointment contained in the headline figures is palpable.” He said Shell remains his favorite pick in the sector. At Shell’s “downstream” operations, which include refining and chemical sales, the company’s performance improved 20 percent to $1.3 billion, excluding the impact of asset sales. Spanish energy company Repsol, meanwhile, says its second quarter net profits fell 45 percent from the same period of 2011 to 274 million euros ($332 million), still due in the effect of lower oil prices on the value of its inventories. Repsol said yesterday this figure does not include earnings at YPF, its former Argentine unit nationalized by the Argentine government in May, Repsol said that for the first half of the year its profits were down 14.6 percent to 903 million euros. It calculated the effect of oil prices on its inventory value at 328 million euros. Repsol said that, measured at current cost of supply and excluding the inventory effect, net income for the first half of 2012 rose 3.1 percent to 894 million euros. Repsol shares were up about 0.4 percent at 11 euros in early trading. Oil prices fell yesterday in Asia after U.S. crude inventories swelled and a slowdown in South Korea’s economy underlined that growth in demand for fuel could remain subdued. Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 60 cents at $88.37 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 47 cents to settle at $88.97 in New York on July 25. AT Oil LobbiesOil lobbies weak-- Keystone provesTapper et al 12 (Jake Tapper, Kirit Radia, John Parkinson, Devin Dwyer, Staff Writers, Jan. 18, 2012, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/president-obama-rejects-keystone-xl-pipeline/story?id=15387980#.T-4peuZOxJM “President Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline”) The Obama administration today formally rejected a bid by Canadian energy company TransCanada to build a $7 billion oil pipeline linking the tar sands of Alberta to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. The Keystone XL project, which was estimated to create thousands of U.S. jobs, became an election-year lightning rod, embroiling President Obama, congressional Republicans, labor unions and interest groups in a heated debate over jobs and the environment. The State Department, which holds the authority to approve or reject pipelines that cross an international boundary, said in November that it would delay a decision on Keystone to allow for further study of the environmental impact along its 1,700-mile route. Then in December, Congress tried to force the president to make a decision proposal within two months, tucking the mandate into the payroll tax cut bill that Obama ultimately signed into law. But the president said today in a statement that the congressionally imposed deadline did not provide adequate time for the State Department to finish a customary review of the pipeline's route through six states. "The rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline's impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment," Obama said. "As a result, the secretary of state has recommended that the application be denied. And after reviewing the State Department's report, I agree." Administration officials say the decision effectively hits the reset button on a review process that has been underway for several years, but does not preclude TransCanada from resubmitting a proposal for reconsideration. "While we are disappointed, TransCanada remains fully committed to the construction of Keystone XL," TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling said in a statement. "Plans are already underway on a number of fronts to largely maintain the construction schedule of the project. We will re-apply for a Presidential Permit and expect a new application would be processed in an expedited manner to allow for an in-service date of late 2014," he said. Labor unions, oil industry groups -- even the president's jobs council -- have signaled support for the plan, which also has bipartisan backing on Capitol Hill. But environmental groups warned it would have a dangerous effect on ecosystems and human health, ratcheting up pressure on Obama to defer to his progressive base in an election year. "This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people," Obama said. Still, news of the rejection quickly sparked condemnation from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who has said pipeline construction would "create 100,000 new jobs," chastised the president and said delaying the deal means Canadians may do business with China instead. "The president has said he'll do anything that he can to create jobs. Today that promise was broken," Boehner continued. "The president won't stand up to his political base, even in the name of creating American jobs." Rep. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat from Indiana, said he is "very disappointed" in the Obama decision. "They are missing an opportunity to create thousands of jobs in America," he said. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi defended Obama, blaming Republicans for effectively tying the administration's hands. "If the Republicans cared so much about the Keystone pipeline, they would not have narrowed the president's options by putting it on the time frame that they did," Pelosi, D-Calif., said. Meanwhile, environmental groups claimed victory over the oil industry, which had spent millions lobbying intensely for approval of the pipeline. "The Keystone XL fight was David versus Goliath; no one thought we could win," said Dan Moglen of Friends of the Earth. The decision shows "sustained grassroots pressure aimed at holding the president accountable to the public interest proved more powerful than all the lobbyists the oil industry could muster." 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