President Barack Obama today threatened to veto any legislation that links speedy approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to a payroll tax cut extension.
Obama’s warning was delivered squarely at House Republican leaders who are considering bundling the two ideas in a bid to win over fiscal conservatives who are wary of the tax package but support the proposed 1,700-mile pipeline.
“Any effort to try to tie Keystone to the payroll tax cut I will reject,” Obama said after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “Everybody should be on notice.”
“The payroll tax cut is something that House Republicans — as well as Senate Republicans — should want to do regardless of any other issues,” Obama added.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would link oil sands development in Alberta, Canada with a key pipeline terminal at Cushing, Okla. From there, it would run to Gulf Coast refineries.
The State Department recently decided to delay a final verdict on whether the $7 billion project is in the national interest until early 2013 so it could conduct an environmental analysis of an alternative route being considered by TransCanada and Nebraska policymakers.
In response, House Republicans, led by Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska, have advanced legislation that would strip Obama and the State Department of the power to permit or reject the project and instead put that decision in the hands of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The measure would give the independent agency 30 days to issue an initial permit for TransCanada’s proposed pipeline, except in some limited instances — prompting some Democrats to label it a “rubber stamp” for the project.
A group of Senate Democrats today warned that Keystone XL and the payroll tax cut extension don’t belong together.
But Republicans in the House and Senate insist that it makes sense to bundle measures designed to give a boost to the ailing economy.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he backed the House GOP plan to bundle the pipeline bill with a payroll tax holiday bill and an extension of unemployment insurance benefits, especially with just a few weeks remaining on the calendar before lawmakers head home for holiday recess.
“It would be important, if those are going to pass, to package them with things that are actually going to create jobs and deliver energy that we sorely need in the United States,” Cornyn said.
Pipeline proponents say it would allow the U.S. to get more of the oil it needs from a friendly North American ally instead of the Middle East, while simultaneously providing new transportation opportunities for currently land-locked oil produced in western states.
A study commissioned by TransCanada Corp., concluded that as many as 20,000 jobs could be created if the pipeline’s construction were approved, though other estimates put the number around 3,000.
Either way, environmentalists argue the price is too high. They say the pipeline would expand the marketplace and demand for oil sands crude that produces more greenhouse gas emissions over its entire life cycle — from production to combustion — than alternatives.
Pipeline foes today cheered Obama’s veto threat.
“The president made clear today that the environmental concerns expressed by thousands of Americans have been heard,” said Danielle Droitsch, director of Canada projects for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Despite undue pressure from the pipeline pushers in Congress, the Administration will put American health and safety before the interests of Big Oil.”
But industry backers said Obama was missing an opportunity to rev up the U.S. economy while boosting the nation’s energy security.
“President Obama said lawmakers should not load the pay roll tax bill with a ‘bunch of politics’, but it’s hard not to see ‘politics’ in delaying the decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until after the next year’s election,” said Marty Durbin, the executive vice president of the American Petroleum Institute. “The 20,000 skilled American workers who will build the pipeline can’t wait. The president should move this project forward as soon as possible.”
Then the Congress needs to cover obama up with bills to hurry the Keystone XL pipeline. obama and his commie/marxist czars don’t like the oil business, I think its time to shut off the northeast. Shut the gas pipelines and shut off all refined petroleum liquids going to Washington DC and surrounding areas. Actually, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to cut off any state that votes against the oil and gas industry, has the “NIMBY” problem or sides with the eco-nazis. Oh! That just about covers all “blue” states doesn’t it? Shut off their fuel and let them freeze in the dark! Po obama! If’n we shut off his’n fuel, he’d hav to stay home and stare at that ugly monkey that lives with him. He wouldn’t be able to dash out for a quickie with his queer buddies.
TransCanada has been building similar pipelines in North America for half a century. There are 200,000 miles of similar coil pipe in the United States today. The Keystone Pipeline will include 57 improvements above standard requirements demanded by U.S. regulators, making it “the safest pipeline ever built.
The U.S. needs 10 million barrels a day of imported oil” and the debate over the proposed pipeline “is not a debate of oil versus alternative energy. This is a debate about whether you want to get your oil from Canada, Venezuela, Nigeria, or some other foreign country, thereby increasing cost to pay for the extra transportation.
If Canadian oil doesn’t reach the Gulf through an environmentally friendly buried pipeline, the alternative is oil that will be brought in by tanker, a mode of transportation that produces higher greenhouse-gas emissions and puts the environment at greater risk. The first 2 phases are already online and we need to continue it to boost local economies and create more construction, logistics, manufacturing, and supporting jobs. Not to mention the additional operations and maintenance jobs created to keep it running. Its a win/win. Wake up people, you too Mr. President.
Do it Obama, and we’ll veto you at the polls.
Stand up to obumer, no pipeline then no tax cuts and impeach him for threatening the countries national interests.
BC – Apparently you mean 200k mi. of similar oil pipelines, not “coil pipe”. We’re talking about joints of 36″ pipe, not something from a lay barge, or HDPE for a municipal distribution system.
Although transportation costs are cheaper with a pipeline from Canada than the total trans costs from Middle East, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the oil will be cheaper here. Either way, the customer pays the going market price at the delivery point, i.e. at the Ship Channel. It will mean that Canadian producers will be able to command higher prices, since they can get it to the global marketplace.
Nitpickery aside, I also support XL.