Congressmen upset by pipeline decision
Washington — Butler County's two congressmen said President Obama was wrong to reject the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
The plan by Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, through a 1,700-mile pipeline across six U.S. states to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Obama already said no, for now, until his administration could review an alternate route that avoided environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, of Butler in a statement said:
“Our friends in organized labor, as well as all Americans, should feel betrayed and outraged by President Obama's decision to block development of the Keystone pipeline. This project would immediately create more than 20,000 shovel-ready, family-sustaining jobs, and would lead to the creation of 118,000 spinoff jobs, all without spending one taxpayer dime.
“The president's decision to block the pipeline, which has endured more than three years of review and scrutiny, is anti-jobs, anti-growth, and, at a time when our nation's economy is fighting for survival, fundamentally wrong for America.”
U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-4th, in a statement said:“The rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline permit is a missed opportunity to drastically turn this economy around.“This pipeline would have created thousands of new jobs and helped to ensure our energy independence.“Make no mistake, this pipeline will be built, but now Canadian jobs will be created and China and its markets will benefit from the oil transported through this pipeline.”U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., cited the same reasons as Kelly and Altmire in opposing Obama's decision.“I'm extremely disappointed that President Obama has chosen to sacrifice American jobs and our energy security to appease environmental special interests.”
