Keystone XL pipeline makes sense for America
by Adam Waldeck
President Obama recently outlined his climate change agenda by promising to push forward new rules to lower carbon emissions.
In this new comprehensive blueprint to combat climate change, the president outlined a number of initiatives, including support for speeding up permitting for renewable energy on public lands, tightening energy efficiency standards and ramping up fuel economy standards for trucks.
While the president talked about the Keystone XL pipeline in his speech announcing the plan, nothing in the 21-page climate plan mentioned the pipeline.
With this in mind, it is surprising that Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine opined in The Washington Post that he was opposed to the Keystone XL project due to concerns about carbon emissions. While we value Kaine’s perspective and agree with his support of innovative solutions to tackle our energy challenges, Virginians should be aware of the facts on the Keystone XL pipeline so they can make informed decisions on it.
First, the project has undergone numerous environmental evaluations and none has shown any sign of harm. Michael Whatley, executive vice president of Consumer Energy Alliance, recently commented, “The State Department’s extensive environmental review of the pipeline once again concludes that (it) will not adversely affect the local environment.”
For more than four years, CEA has kept abreast of the environmental review of this project and has submitted 500,000-plus letters of support — more than 16,000 of which came from Virginians. With the environmental concerns behind us, the discussion should now be focused on our nation’s best interests for the years ahead.
The Keystone XL project serves as an environmentally safe and responsible means of significantly increasing our energy resources. If approved, this project will provide the United States with 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Such an energy supply increase will offer a major step toward U.S. energy self-sufficiency, ensuring that we are creating jobs and tackling our energy challenges head-on.
Construction of the pipeline will also directly employ more than 9,000 Americans, pump $5.3 billion into the U.S. economy and provide discounted crude oil that will lower gas prices for U.S. consumers. At the same time, the project will increase U.S. energy security by increasing oil supplies from a trusted ally.
The Keystone XL project presents a valuable opportunity. If we do not take advantage of it, we can be sure that other countries will — to our detriment.
This pipeline could allow us to further develop our relationship with Canada, which would be far more secure and manageable than relying on supplies of oil from unstable, faraway regions.
Canada has already shown itself to be a great asset to us; last year, Canada was our top source for petroleum imports, according to gross import calculations by the Energy Information Administration. This project would be an ideal way to continue developing our relationship with our neighbor and best trading partner.
Let’s also remember that over the years, our nation has been reducing its carbon emissions. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, the EIA found that “energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide … have fallen 12 percent between 2005 and 2012 and are at their lowest level since 1994.” Through innovation and technology, we have been able to get our energy sources progressively cleaner.
With this in mind, it is important that America’s policymakers take an “all-of-the-above” approach that enables us to explore all the energy sources available to us.
The Keystone XL pipeline is a key part of such a plan as it will provide a cheaper, more stable source of oil that will benefit consumers in every sector of the U.S. economy.
With the environmental assessment now complete, it makes sense to proceed with the Keystone XL project as expeditiously as possible.
Adam Waldeck is executive director of Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) Southeast.
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