TransCanada remains fully committed to Keystone XL despite today’s veto of bipartisan legislation in support of the project. The facts show Keystone XL passes the national interest determination test and President Obama’s climate test. Without Keystone XL, U.S. refineries are forced to use other methods of transportation to get the oil they need for creating products we all rely on every day. This means higher GHG emissions and relying on methods of transportation that are not as safe or as efficient as pipelines, according to the U.S. Department of State.
The pipeline represents a choice of how Americans want to get the oil they need safely and where it should come from. Pipelines are by far the safest and most environmentally sound mode of transporting the millions of barrels of oil Americans use every day. Keystone XL will be the safest pipeline ever built in America and be an important part of a modern energy infrastructure system that helps minimize impacts to the environment. The State Department’s exhaustive six years of scientific study has consistently confirmed that Keystone XL will operate at a higher level of safety than any other pipeline currently in operation and will have a minimal impact on the environment.
While groups opposed to the safe and sustainable transportation of products such as oil by pipeline may try to claim a symbolic victory, it’s important to focus on what is at stake. Without the Keystone XL Presidential Permit:
- Growing quantities of Canadian and U.S. Bakken oil production will continue to be transported by rail, barge and truck which are less efficient and less safe
- The U.S. will continue to send billions of dollars overseas to regimes that are fundamentally opposed to American values – when the oil that is needed can be sourced right here in North America
- Over 40,000 jobs are not created and supported. That includes 9,000 American men and women who are prevented from building a modern piece of infrastructure, and in the process, these tradespeople are not able to get the hours they need to qualify for their health and retirement benefits
Keystone XL clearly satisfies all of the stated National Interest Determination criteria, it passes the environmental test of not significantly exacerbating GHG emissions, will enhance U.S. energy security and provides economic benefits to the nation through privately funded job creation and economic stimulus. The first three phases of Keystone have provided these broad benefits since 2010, all while safely delivering over 830 million barrels of oil to U.S. refineries.
As we have done throughout the permitting process, TransCanada will keep working in good faith with the U.S. Department of State and other federal agencies to address any outstanding concerns with regard to Keystone XL, including those that were most recently raised by the EPA.
Keystone XL is in the national interest of the United States and should be approved and constructed.
Source Keystone XL – TransCanada