Obama Rejects XL Pipeline

Part of the two month extension of the payroll tax cut package late last year was a requirement that the President make a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline.  On Wednesday January 18, the White House officially announced that it will not seek to build the pipeline.  According to Politico, “The State Department Wednesday will reject the Keystone XL pipeline, multiple sources following the project tell POLITICO.”  The formal announcement by the State Department is expected to occur at 3 pm.  The White House did leave a little bit of wiggle room.  According to The Hill, “While the administration is expected to reject TransCanada Corp.’s permit application, it will allow the company to re-apply…”  This could be seen as keeping the door open to the pipeline when in reality it is probably just a ploy to try and “have it both ways.”  The truth is that the XL Pipeline will be good for the economy, the government, and the entire country.

It is important to understand the facts about the pipeline. The proposed pipeline, which would carry roughly 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Gulf Coast, would encompass 1,700 miles and cost approximately $7 billion.  The pipeline would be an extension of one that became operational in 2010 (you can read TPA’s previous blog posting here).

I wanted to share some blog postings from other groups about the Keystone XL Pipeline:

1.    Nicolas Loris of the Heritage Foundation has an excellent piece titled, “Unnecessary Keystone XL Pipeline Delay Obstructs Energy, Jobs.”

2.    Ryan Young of the Competitive Enterprise Institute has an informative podcast titled, “CEI Podcast for December 22, 2011: The Keystone XL Pipeline.”

3.    Finally, Brandon Greife writes in support of the pipeline for the National Taxpayers Union in his blog “America Needs Keystone Pipeline, Not Keystone Kops.”

The Keystone XL Pipeline makes good fiscal common sense and will help reduce America’s dependency on Middle East oil.  The Obama Administration’s rejection of the pipeline is a step backwards in job creation and oil independence.