The Obama administration today announced it was putting off until after the 2012 election a decision on whether to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada to refineries in the United States.
The following statements from environment and energy experts at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Tammy Nash at [email protected] and 312/377-4000. After regular business hours, contact Jim Lakely at [email protected] and 312/731-9364.
“The lobbying groups pushing for delay are using a whole raft of phony arguments, like air quality. They are ignoring the obvious: Every barrel of oil from Canada means one less from OPEC – improving national security and reducing the risk of oil spills from tankers.”
S.Fred Singer
Senior Fellow, Environment
The Heartland Institute
Director/Founder
Science and Environmental Policy Project
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“The Keystone XL pipeline promises to increase energy security, lower energy prices, and create much-needed jobs during a time when millions of Americans are desperately seeking work. If the Obama administration follows through on apparent plans to delay an approval decision on the pipeline, this will merely show voters that the Obama administration cares more about appeasing its environmental activist allies than doing what is right for our economy and our nation’s energy security.
“Moreover, by delaying an approval decision until after the 2012 elections, the Obama administration is demonstrating that it considers electioneering and its own political interests as being more important than the good of the nation.”
James M. Taylor
Senior Fellow, Environment Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“The supposed environmental hazard of the Keystone pipeline is just cover for the ongoing campaign to inhibit the use of fossil fuels in favor of environmentally correct green energy. What does this mean? More delay, higher prices, more dumb windmills, more oil from the Middle East.
“The Canadians would be fully justified in working with the Chinese and building a pipeline to Vancouver. From there the vast oil reserve of the Canadian oil sands could supply China for years to come.”
Norman Rogers
Policy Advisor, Environment
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“Instead of making a ‘national interest’ determination on the Keystone XL pipeline, the president has decided to make a ‘self interest’ determination, favoring reelection over good governance.
“The Obama administration already has reviewed this project sufficiently and delaying it under the guise of further review is dishonest. The state department evaluated alternative routes in its environmental impact assessment and deemed the chosen route to be superior both economically and environmentally.
“Today’s decision is a huge loss for American workers who would have benefited from the type of ‘shovel ready’ project the president is trying so hard to artificially create through government spending.”
John Monaghan
Legislative Specialist for Environmental Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
The Heartland Institute is a 27-year-old national nonprofit organization with offices in Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; Austin, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida; and Columbus, Ohio. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.
Dr. S. Fred Singer was among the first and most-prominent scientist in the world speaking out against global warming alarmism.
Norman Rogers is a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute, speaking and sometimes writing on the topic of global warming. He divides his time between residences in Chicago and Florida.
