Three Republican senators introduced legislation this week that would bar the administration from releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve unless it approves the Keystone XL pipeline.
The legislation from Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana, John Hoeven of North Dakota and Richard Lugar of Indiana comes in response to White House spokesman Jay Carney’s recent comment that opening the reserve wasn’t off the table if oil prices continue rising.
Republicans have sought to pass legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline ever since the Obama administration denied a permit on Jan. 18, saying a Feb. 21 decision deadline included in the payroll-tax law at the insistence of Republicans didn’t provide enough time for an environmental review.
“The Keystone XL pipeline is yet another example of the president putting a political agenda in front of common-sense energy policy,” Vitter said in a statement. “It’s as if this administration had never heard of the economics of supply and demand…unless it becomes politically expedient to release from our strategic reserves to influence gas prices when there is a looming election.”
The GOP has tacked language approving the TransCanada Corp. pipeline from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries onto the House’s version of surface-transportation legislation. Similar efforts to amend transportation legislation in the Democratic-held Senate haven’t yet gone anywhere.
The senators’ bill by itself likely wouldn’t garner the votes needed to make it through the Senate. But it serves as another opportunity for Republicans to bash Obama for rejecting a project they claim would create jobs and boost energy security. Environmentalist and Democratic opponents call that claim exaggerated and have raised pollution concerns about the pipeline.
The keystone pipeline has no benefits for us oil consumption because the oil sands are deignated to produced Diesel earmarked to sell overseas. Due to the tax code because it will not be consumed in america no taxation is allowed. All we will get out of this product is the pollution and most likel;y the cost of clean up.
Greed blinds good judgment and undress destructive and voracious appetite for unnecessary profits in demagogues. Isn’t the oil reserve a supply that might meet the demand in case of an emergency? Obviously, intelligence is not a requirement to get rich for this people!
The pipeline will give us more oil to refine so we can continue to export it (which sure helps keep the price high). Refined petroleum is the largest export item for the USA the last 2 years. We are exporting our oil? Why?
Charlie,
The benefit is jobs n the US, even temporary, those hired will spend money and pay taxes. Product related to the construction of the pipeline will be purchased from companies here. A company here in E Tx will be supplying some of the pipe and are hiring to ramp up for the increased demand.
Charlie, do your research before you copy and paste, American refineries have spent hundreds of millions to upgrade their refineries to process heavy crude from Canada, and not just for diesel.
Boy, those Republicans sure are stupid about the whole XL thing.
The hold up is in Nebraska where the Republican controlled ledge will not approve a route for the line across their state. Every Republican that speaks on this subjects says, “I understand that problem has been resolved.” In other words: They don’t know what they are talking about.
Just two days ago a spokesperson for TransCanada said, “We still have a little bit of work to do”, concerning applying for a permit to cross Nebraska. The State of Nebraska rejected their application totally and told them to come up with a new route and this was in November of 2011. The State of Nebraska is still waiting for the application to be presented.
So now, out of spite or ignorance, Republicans have come up with a ‘cure’. Note to Republicans: The problem is in Nebraska. Please speak to your fellow Republicans there if you wish to understand just what this is all about since the few Republicans from this state seem to know more about this issue than the rest of you put together.
TransCanada now figures the line cannot be in operation until 2015. Well, as long as TransCanada can’t come up with a plan that is acceptable to the State of Nebraska they have no one to blame but….. Hummmm? I guess that would be TransCanada?
I would love to see this line built, but unless all concerned stop blaming everyone else for their problems the date will just get pushed back further and further. And coming up with laws that ignore the reality of the situation is nothing but an enormous waste of time.
But then, Republicans have vowed that nothing is going to be done in DC until after the elections……..
Nebraska is covered with pipelines-the whole issue is pure political pandering by Obama and his Administration. If Obama knew anything about business (which he does not since he never worked in the “Real World”), he would have approved the pipeline. Wake up folks-pipelines are all over the USA-some probably running through your backyard-many across “environmentally sensitive areas” so why was this one project singled out? POLITICS!! Obama spews about job growth-most of which are adding government jobs (which means more taxes and bigger government) or his “Highway Improvement” plans-which many of you made comments that “Keystone will only provide temporary jobs”-just what do you think fixing a highway is? If they work with 3000 people and one shovel, well then, that job may last a few years; otherwise, that highway fix job is a few months at the most, so Obama is calling for temporary jobs as part of his economic fix-it plan.
If part of your basis for objection of Keystone is that the job creation is temporary, then why aren’t you complaining about Obama’s temporary job creation plans associated with his highly touted Highway Construction plans he’s mentioned in each of his State of the Union speeches? All politics-certainly he cemented the NRDC, Sierra Club, WWF, PETA and other environmental centered entities. All done for votes.
Slim Chance,Said it best.We refine and then export most of our oil in the US.Who benefits from this-big oil.Reidthis,you want to talk about something done for votes who does the propping up of most of big oil-the GOP.By the way interesting how Vitter of Louisiana is pushing so hard for this-where is most of our oil refined?Louisiana!Hmmmmm,Wonder who’s lining Vitters pockets!