Pearce: Keystone Kop Kills Pipeline

Steve Pearce

Washington, DC (January 19, 2012) President Obama has blamed congressional Republicans for his administration’s decision to reject the construction permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. He blamed Republicans for actions he took. This is ludicrous.  The Keystone XL pipeline is a 1700 mile, $7 billion non tax-payer funded pipeline which would deliver over 700,000 barrels of oil from Canada to refineries in the United States. Last August, the State Department issued a final and complimentary Environmental Impact Statement on the project. The project would create an immediate 20,000 construction jobs and at least another 130,000 long-term jobs by conservative estimates.

Congressman Steve Pearce released the following statement after the Administration’s announcement: “Greece cannot pay its bills. Italy is in dire need of a bailout as well, and Portugal is on the verge of economic collapse,” said Pearce. “President Obama’s comedy of errors is leading us down the same frightening path. His big government policies, like rejecting the Keystone Pipeline permit and establishing the Cement MACT rule, will only speed up that process. He has shown himself to be the Keystone Kop—totally incompetent. The American people deserve better, and need someone who will rebuild our economy and unite us.”

“The Administration has had three years to study this pipeline, but for some reason he declared the bipartisan 60 day decision timeline for the permit ‘arbitrary’ and ‘insufficient’,” Pearce continued. “The President simply fails to take responsibility for any of his decisions—even when they come with his signature, he always points the finger at somebody else.”

“Just yesterday, the President’s own Council on Jobs and Competitiveness called for an ‘all in’ approach to energy development as the way forward to create jobs and decrease our dependence on foreign energy. And once again, President Obama chose to disregard commonsense recommendations from a panel he appointed. It’s time the President worried about jobs on Main Street instead of his job at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Pearce: Keystone Kop Kills Pipeline