With Over 40,000 Jobs Waiting, Time To Approve Keystone

by AF Branco

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steve Scalise has issued the following statement after the U.S. State Department released its draft environmental study for the Keystone XL pipeline.“If President Obama was serious about creating jobs and fixing this weak economy, he would stand up to the extremist radicals in his party and finally approve the Keystone Pipeline today,” Scalise said. “With just one stroke of his pen, President Obama could create more than 40,000 middle class jobs here in America, reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil from countries who don’t like us, and lower gas prices at the pump. For 1,600 days this project has languished, waiting for approval while Americans have struggled with skyrocketing unemployment and higher gas prices. It’s long past time for the president to stop failing American families and finally approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.”

The State Department has released a draft environmental impact statement and found (again) that the Keystone XL pipeline is environmentally sound. Sean Hackbarth with the US. Chamber of Commerce noted,"The report also destroys a key talking point by anti-energy groups who argue that stopping the pipeline would stop crude from Canadian oil sands from coming to market. “[A]pproval or denial of the proposed Project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the amount of heavy crude oil refined in the Gulf Coast area,” it reads. It goes on to state that, “If all pipeline capacity were restricted, oil sands production could decrease by approximately 2 to 4 percent by 2030.” Alternative methods of moving oil would be used."Bill Smith, ARRA News, commented: "President Obama said he wanted more infrastructure projects available to create more jobs. Here is a real infrastructure project, adding over 20,000 direct high paying jobs and 100, 000 indirect jobs which will not cost the U.S. taxpayers a dime. In fact the program will via income taxes add funds to the treasury. The only thing standing in the way of the XL Pipeline is President Obama's green energy agenda and his activist appointed leadership in the EPA."

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