It’s Time to Make a Decision
Last month, we surpassed 2,000 days since TransCanada first submitted its construction application for the Keystone XL pipeline. Unfortunately, even more recently, the State Department announced it will again postpone its decision on the project. After more than five years of delays, despite several studies revealing no noticeable impact on the environment, it is beyond frustrating that the Administration has again chosen to avoid making a decision.
Blaming Nebraska court proceedings related to the pipeline’s route, the State Department quietly announced on Good Friday that it will delay its decision until after those legal issues are resolved. Considering that this case isn’t likely to be decided until after mid-term elections, however, it seems that this delay is yet another show of the Administration putting politics over what’s actually best for our country.
As many a lawmaker on both sides of the aisle have noted over the last several years we’ve waited for a decision, Keystone would boost the economy, create jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign energy. Members of the House and Senate have already shown their support time and again for TransCanada’s extension of the pipeline that would span 1,700 miles from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast, with a terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma. In the last Congress alone, the House voted six times to advance construction of the pipeline. Last year, a bipartisan House approved the Northern Route Approval Act, legislation that expedites the application process, by a vote of 241 to 175. Not long after the State Department’s most recent announcement, democratic Senator Mary Landrieu even voiced her opposition to the latest halt on Keystone.
TransCanada is willing to invest $7 billion in construction—funds that would be spent in the United States and stimulate our economy. According to the latest State Department study, the pipeline project would add approximately $3.4 billion to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the expected 2-year construction. This includes wages earned directly by the American manpower employed by TransCanada and those American businesses and individuals producing materials and other services through completion of the pipeline project. In addition, the recent study also found that several states would benefit from greater tax revenue, “Property tax revenue during operations would be substantial for many counties with an increase of 10 percent or more in 17 of the 27 counties with proposed Project facilities.”
Recent estimates show that the pipeline would directly create around 42,100 jobs during the construction period and thousands more related jobs. Again, this would be made possible through the private investment of TransCanada and without expending any federal dollars.
Not only does the project provide promise of economic recovery and much-needed jobs for thousands of Americans, it would also strengthen our national security and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Based on estimates from the Department of Energy, Keystone could move at least 830,000 barrels of oil per day. We currently import about half of that amount from the Middle East—a figure that is likely to go up if we do nothing.
Russ Girling of TransCanada recently commented, “After more than 2,000 days, five exhaustive environmental reviews and over 17,000 pages of scientific data, Keystone XL continues to languish.” Not only is this frustrating for TransCanada, but it’s a real loss for our nation. At this point, in the amount of time that the State Department and Administration have held up construction, the equivalent of two Keystone pipelines could already have been built.
I’m disappointed that we’re still just talking about the value Keystone would bring because of the continual delays imposed by the Obama Administration. Now is the time for the president to act for the benefit of all Americans rather than avoid for the sake of politics.