U.S. Representative Ed Royce

Talk about a self-inflicted wound. With U.S. unemployment hovering at about 9 percent, with the U.S. sending hundreds of billions of petrodollars every year to hostile regimes, and with our growing economic rivalry with China, the Obama administration's decision to further postpone the Keystone XL Pipeline Project is simply maddening.

The proposed Keystone pipeline would move the abundant, proven crude-oil reserves in Alberta, Canada – the third-largest in the world – to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast. Its construction is still awaiting an Obama administration OK, three years after the request was filed, longer than the typical process. But the administration announced last week that the process would be delayed again, until after the November 2012 election.

The economic benefits of this project are great. By one estimate, over 20,000 U.S. jobs involved in constructing and servicing the pipeline will be created. That is a conservative jobs estimate. Many of these are good-paying manufacturing jobs, building pipe, earth movers and other construction equipment. Passing up any number of jobs is unacceptable.

So while the administration has futilely spent hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars trying to create jobs, the Keystone jobs wouldn't cost a federal dime. While President Barack Obama continues to talk about jobs, his Keystone delay is scotching tens of thousands of them.

Politics drove the administration to kick the can down the road. Both business and labor organizations strongly back Keystone. The pipeline has undergone three stages of detailed, public economic and national security review. Still, some environmental groups have protested. Even though this project has been judged as environmentally safe by U.S. government agencies, the White House choose not to alienate a very small minority that opposes all oil development.

But Canada will develop and export its energy, pipeline or not. It wants to work with us, but it has options. Prime Minister Stephen Harper met this month with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. With the Obama decision just days old, it's no surprise that the Canadian leader stressed his country's need to enter Asian energy markets.

China already has energy projects in western Canada. It is locking up energy resources in Africa and Latin America and elsewhere. China has a voracious energy appetite and is looking ahead, extending its energy development reach worldwide. If we snub our neighbor to the north, there will be a Canadian pipeline to the Pacific to service Asia, mainly China.

It bothers me greatly that China is playing in our North American back yard, and the administration doesn't seem to care. Where is our sense of rivalry? Where is our urgency? If we don't renew the American spirit of enterprise, if we kibosh critical projects like this pipeline, our economic future is dim.

So at least for now, we will turn from Canada and continue to import oil from unstable and hostile producers, including Venezuela and Middle Eastern countries, at a higher cost. Forgoing Canada has another economic cost. Dollars spent on Canadian energy return to the U.S. at a higher rate than from other energy-producing countries. Again, this decision means fewer American jobs.

Our energy challenges are significant. We need to develop a range of options. We need nuclear and renewable energy, including wind and solar. But oil and pipeline infrastructure are critical.

The Keystone decision means American jobs not created and less energy security. It is also emblematic of the political challenge we face. When key economic decisions are made based upon election schedules, we all lose.