Keystone XL: Editorial boards across the country have shown strong support for Keystone XL
News Media Soundly Behind Keystone XL
Editorial boards across the country are still having trouble processing the continuing delay of the Keystone XL Pipeline. As we close in on six years of study and review, the project remains the biggest private infrastructure project on the books in the United States and the latest delay has jeopardized another construction season for the project and for the hard-working laborers waiting for their chance to build this state-of-the-art-infrastrucutre.
The Washington Post’s most recent editorial called the delays ‘absurd’ and ‘laughable.’
“At this point, there is little doubt about the big picture. After two thorough environmental analyses, State Department experts determined that the pipeline’s impact probably would be minimal, even on climate change-inducing carbon dioxide emissions. The economic rewards of extracting Canadian oil are too attractive and the options for getting it out of the country are too numerous. We would rather see Canadian crude traveling a well-built, well-regulated pipeline in the United States than on the rail cars, barges and ocean tankers that will move it until cheaper options inevitably come online.”
While we can empathize with the Post’s apparent frustration, the delay, which has now put thousands of hard-working laborers on the sidelines for another construction season, is anything but a laughing matter.
Every job matters
A May 5, Wall Street Journal editorial noted that Keystone XL would much-needed provide a boost to the U.S. economy which is rebounding from a terribly cold winter and contribute to continued growth without burdening tax-payers. “The Americans who have left the workforce include older workers who retired before they wanted to, millions who have taken disability, and others who simply don’t find the job openings to be worth the cost of giving up public benefits. Millions of those will come back to work if growth becomes robust enough to provide more opportunities and faster wage gains. Twenty-thousand new jobs to build the Keystone XL pipeline would be a good, shovel-ready start. And it wouldn’t cost the federal government a dime. “
A Safer way
A Chicago Tribune editorial described Keystone XL as a common-sense project that would make energy transport safer and more efficient.
“This project — already five years in discussions — would link oil sands in the Canadian province of Alberta to American ports and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. It would make the North American energy industry more efficient. It would improve safety by delivering oil via pipeline rather than the current, riskier practice of shipping it by train. It would put people to work”
A Tulsa World editorial called continued delays ‘disappointing and unnecessary.’
“Another delay on the Keystone XL Pipeline means another delay in new jobs and energy security it could promote.”
Time to Build
Despite delays and on-going misinformation campaigns by project opponents, the public, the media, and a bi-partisan majority of lawmakers in the United States remain strong supporters of this critical infrastructure project.
Our partners in the labor and manufacturing unions as well as our shippers remain intensely committed to Keystone XL because the fundamentals remain the same throughout this exhaustive review process.
Keystone XL is the safest way and most efficient to transport North American crude oil to American refineries. All economic benefits of this project, the jobs, the tax revenues and investments remain in North America.
Keystone XL is in the national interest of the United States, economically and environmentally. It’s time to put the hard-working laborers who have been waiting patiently for a permit to put their skills to work on this state-of-the-art infrastructure project.