[Editor’s Note: After the House overwhelmingly voted 266 to 153 this morning to approve the controversial six-year-old Keystone XL Pipeline, ahead of next week’s Senate vote and President Obama’s promised veto, Culver City’s Democratic representative, issued a minority statement.]
I am disappointed that Republicans in Congress decided to take up this divisive legislation that would bypass national environmental standards and state law to jam through the Keystone XL Pipeline.
It does not make sense to give the Keystone Pipeline project a special exemption from federal permitting requirements when they apply to every other construction project in the country.
The bill exempts TransCanada Corp. and any other company that produces, ships or refines tar sands oil from paying into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund–even though conventional crude companies are required to pay eight cents per barrel into the trust fund to help the federal government respond to oil spills.
In addition, Republicans gave the TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline an exemption from all federal permitting requirements.
I don't know why a project that will only create 35 permanent jobs warrants a special exemption from the requirements that apply to every other construction project in the country.
Instead of investing in renewable energy, Keystone would lock the United States into decades of dependence on dirtier tar sands crude.
We need to be investing in renewable energy sources. They will reverse the catastrophic impacts of climate change and produce clean energy jobs.
This legislation is not just bad policy.
It bypasses the democratic process.
Republicans have taken up this legislation with no public input, ignoring the more than 2.5 million Americans who submitted comments on the project. These Americans deserve to have their voices heard and not just ignored for political expediency.
President Obama has announced he will veto this legislation.
Our nation deserves a Congress that will work across party lines to ensure every American enjoys a healthy environment with smart job creation.
