Though he stopped short of calling his last boss naïve, former Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee didn’t hold back on opponents of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline.

While speaking before the Economic Club of Canada yesterday, Goolsbee predicted that the pipeline will eventually be built, and that “it’s a bit naïve to think the tar sands would not be developed if they don’t build that pipeline.”  Though Forum President Doug Holtz-Eakin already called environmental opponents to Keystone XL “foolish,” Goolsbee’s voice is an unexpected and pleasant addition to the choir – and not his first act of truth-telling to Canadians.

Sensible thinkers – on the right and left – agree that development of Canadian tar sands is a forgone conclusion.  That environmental activists turn their nose up at fossil fuels does not negate the tremendous economic and geopolitical value of both tar sands oil and a pipeline to bring that oil to American refineries.  By punting on Keystone XL, the President told Canadian oil developers to find another buyer, not stop production.

If there were ever doubts about whose council President Obama weighs highest on Keystone XL, they should now be dispelled.  As TransCanada and Nebraska collaborate to find a new, mutually acceptable path for the pipeline, we can expect the activist voices to continue chirping in Obama’s ear to fight back.  Unfortunately for Americans, job creation, and energy security, it seems he’s listening.