Power Lines: Canada Taking Their Resources to Asia
January 11, 2012

Canada’s Prime Minister (PM) is not wasting any time coming up with concrete alternatives to the Keystone XL Pipeline project.  According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, PM Stephen Harper recently collected support for a new plan to transport Canada's oil production westward to the Canadian coast, where it would be loaded onto tankers and sent to Asian markets.

It is clear that Canada will not wait very long to start moving their oil, as there are markets just as thirsty for their petroleum as the U.S.  However, President Obama continues his refusal to approve the construction of the job-creating Keystone XL Pipeline—a project that 22 House Democrats urged him to approve in 2011. 

Speaker Boehner has continued to beat the drum on this issue.  The following was posted to Speaker Boehner’s blog today:

Is the Keystone Jobs Project on Today’s Agenda, Mr. President?

Washington (Jan 11) Before traveling to Chicago for “three campaign events” today, President Obama will host a forum with “leaders from the private sector and government” about “working with more companies to create jobs,” reports Associated Press. One project that would create thousands of new American jobs without adding to our spending-driven debt is the Keystone XL energy pipeline – and lucky for the president, Keystone already has the support of “leaders from the private sector and government.” For example:

• AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS: The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) says the Keystone XL extension “is estimated to create 20,000 high-paying manufacturing and construction jobs and will provide access to affordable sources of energy.” Manufacturers “are excited about this opportunity to invest and expand,” says NAM, but “remain waiting on the sidelines” while President Obama delays action. A study by the Perryman Group found the Keystone XL project would eventually lead to the “creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

• LABOR UNIONS: Labor unions, key supporters of the Democratic Party, believe “workers from all over the United States would benefit” from the Keystone XL project. The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 in Wisconsin says the Keystone extension “will create 20,000 jobs paying family-supporting wages,” and will increase “demand for skilled operating engineers, pipefitters and laborers from across the Midwest.” And the AFL-CIO says “the privately-financed Keystone XL pipeline project is projected to create tens of thousands of U.S. jobs in construction and manufacturing.”

• STATE DEPARTMENT: The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) by the Obama administration’s State Department says building the pipeline as proposed is the “preferred alternative,” and – according to The Hill – found that the Keystone project “poses little environmental risk if managed properly” and will have “no significant impact” on nearby resources. The State Department website catalogues the extensive review process Keystone has undergone in the three years since it was proposed.

• DEMOCRATS & REPUBLICANS: Forty-seven House Democrats voted with Republicans to require the administration to quickly act on the Keystone XL extension. Nearly two dozen House Democrats wrote a letter to President Obama saying the project will “create 20,000 direct jobs” and “spur the creation of 118,000 spin-off jobs.” And a bipartisan group of 14 Senators wrote a letter saying Keystone would “provide thousands of high-quality jobs for Americans and invest billions of private sector dollars in our nation's economy.”

Ironically, President Obama’s forum today is billed as “Insourcing American Jobs” – even though the longer the president delays, the more he risks sending the thousands of Keystone jobs overseas to countries like China.

The president says “we can’t wait” for action on jobs, but when it comes to Keystone XL, the only one we’re waiting on is him. Learn more about the Keystone XL project and the Republican jobs plan at jobs.GOP.gov.

Along with a Canadian Member of Parliament, Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) authored a statement calling this project a “shovel ready private-sector infrastructure project that will benefit both nations and not require one dime of federal or state funding, nor any preferential tax incentives to start it or keep it operational.”

The joint statement goes on to say that, “The Keystone XL pipeline provides an opportunity for real, private-sector, free-market economic stimulus.  It is a wonderful example of bilateral cooperation between friends that offers enormous benefits to both.  Together, we urge President Obama and officials in his administration to put aside frivolous and puerile political considerations and approve the thousands of jobs and great strides toward energy independence provided by the Keystone XL pipeline and to help ensure the prosperity and security of our two great nations for decades to come.”

For questions or further information contact Sarah Makin