Harper – Obama out of excuses on Keystone Pipeline
Environmental concerns about the Keystone XL pipeline have been addressed and supporters say President Obama is officially out of excuses for delaying a project that would create tens of thousands of jobs.
Keystone would connect the Canadian oil sands to the U.S. gulf coast and purportedly spark job creation in every state along the way.
In the minds of Keystone supporters, the last hurdle was cleared when Nebraska Gov. David Heineman approved a new route for the pipeline through his state that protects ecologically sensitive areas.
“That was one of the main reasons that the president rejected this back in January of 2012 was that there were environmental concerns about the route that it was going to take,” said Mississippi Rep. Gregg Harper, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and one of the strongest voices for the pipeline in Congress.
“There’s really nothing now that I can see that would be holding the president back from going ahead and making this decision and approving this, particularly in light of where we are in the economy and the wide bipartisan supportfor approving this to bring in the oil from the oil sands in Canada. It makes perfect sense.”
1/31/13
Magnolia Tribune
