With Public Comment Period Closed, Leaders Call for Project Approval Date
WASHINGTON – With the 45-day public comment period on the Keystone XL pipeline project now closed, Senator John Hoeven today was joined by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the President of the two-million member Building and Construction Trades union to press the President and the Department of State to expeditiously approve the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline and avoid any further delays in its review process.
“After nearly five years of review, four environmental impact statements stating that the project poses no significant impact to the environment and yet another public comment period, it is past time that we move forward with construction of the full Keystone XL pipeline project,” said Hoeven. “This pipeline is about more energy for our nation and more jobs for our people. It is about making our nation more secure and less dependent on oil from volatile places like the Middle East and Venezuela. The American people deserve an affirmative answer from the Administration on this vital infrastructure project.”
Both the National Building Trades union and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined Senator Hoeven in calling on the President to approve the pipeline.
“For the skilled craft professionals that comprise America’s Building Trades Unions, any discussion of the Keystone XL pipeline project begins and ends with one simple word: JOBS," said Sean McGarvey, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department. “America’s Building Trades Unions believes that a modern U.S. energy policy should be focused upon enhanced energy security, a self-reliant North American production capacity, economic prosperity, and steady and robust job creation. We firmly believe that approval of the Keystone XL pipeline satisfies all of those criteria.”
“The Keystone XL pipeline will create thousands of sorely-needed jobs, inject capital into our economy, and enjoys the support of 70 percent of the American people,” said Karen Harbert, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. “This project has become one of the most-reviewed infrastructure projects in our nation’s history, and enough is enough. Additional delays mean more money going overseas to unfriendly nations to purchase oil that we could be sourcing from Canada and producing here at home. The Chamber urges the State Department to issue its national interest finding and for the Obama Administration to allow the pipeline to move forward.”
The Keystone XL pipeline is one of the most advanced and studied pipeline projects in the nation’s history. It will be monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and satellites will send data from 25,000 data points to the pipeline’s monitoring center. If a drop in pressure is detected, any section of the pipeline can be isolated remotely, closing any of the hundreds of valves on the system within minutes.