Winners & Losers: Keystone Pipeline/Newt Gingrich

Environmentalists applaud Obama for rejecting TransCanada’s Keystone Pipeline permit.

On this weekend's edition of Winners and Losers, we take a look at the Keystone XL Pipeline and the big roadblock many of its supporters found when their permit was rejected.

In addition to that, we take a look at South Carolina and the surging campaign of Newt Gingrich. But will it be affected by his ex-wife's recent comments?

Check out this week's edition of Winner and Losers.

Winner: Environmentalists cheered President Barack Obama’s decision Wednesday to reject TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline permit. They objected to the pipeline, which would span six states and daily transport 700,000 barrels of crude oil from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to refineries along the Gulf Coast, for fear that it would taint water sources in the Great Plains, decimate the forest, and alter the climate. Although the pipeline could reportedly create tens of thousands of jobs, labor organizations such as the Service Employees International Union, United Steel Workers and United Auto Workers shared the concerns environmentalists expressed about the 1,661-mile project. In a statement, President Obama explained that he rejected TransCanada’s permit because Congressional Republicans forced a deadline that did not allow enough time for his administration to determine the pipeline’s potential impact on the environment and American people, alike. While Republicans are already vilifying the president for rejecting the permit—temporarily, anyway—Obama has landed in the good graces of the tree-hugger crowd for not buckling under GOP pressure.

Loser: The good news for Newt Gingrich is that the latest American Research Group poll shows that he and Mitt Romney are the frontrunners for the South Carolina primary taking place Saturday, with 33 and 32 percent of support from voters, respectively. The bad news is that ABC’s “Nightline” aired an interview Thursday evening featuring Gingrich’s second ex-wife, Marianne. Married to the politician for 18 years, Marianne Gingrich argued that her former husband lacks the moral character to be president of the United States. She recalled that the onetime speaker of the House asked her for an open marriage and, when she refused, told her that he wanted a divorce via phone call. To make matters worse, he asked for a divorce just a couple of months after her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, when he’d specifically been told not to stress her out, Marianne Gingrich said. It does no favors for his image that he reportedly left his first wife as she received cancer treatments and that he allegedly carried on a six-year affair with current wife Callista while married to Marianne. Collectively such allegations paint a portrait of Gingrich as a real cad. True or false, some voters will likely opt not to vote for him because of this portrayal of his character.