WASHINGTON ( AP) — President Barack Obama is convening a summit with leaders from Mexico and Canada today that aims to boost a fragile recovery and grapple with thorny energy issues against a backdrop of painfully high gas prices.
The session at the White House is a make-good for a planned meeting last November in Hawaii on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit. Obama ended up meeting just with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper when Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s top deputy was killed in a helicopter crash.
Sure to feature prominently in today’s Oval Office session: Mexico’s role as a major oil exporter and the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada that Obama has shelved pending further review.
Republicans denounced Obama’s move as a blow to job-creation and U.S. energy needs. But he maintains GOP leaders in Congress forced his hand by insisting on a decision before an acceptable pipeline route was found.
The pipeline would link Alberta’s oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast, but environmentalists fear both its local impact and a major uptick in greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
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