Posted on 08/27/2011 4:23:00 PM PDT by jazusamo
Capitol Hill opponents of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline are attacking the State Department’s finding that the proposed project will cause minimal environmental harm if managed properly.
The State Department’s conclusion in an environmental analysis released Friday is a crucial step toward final federal approval of the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.
But the finding isn’t sitting well with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who called the analysis flawed, alleging the State Department failed to “adequately asses the real environmental impact.” The pipeline would run through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and other states.
“Natural resources like the Ogallala Aquifer which Keystone XL would run through are invaluable and we should not put a dangerous, dirty tar sands pipeline through the heart of it,” he said in a statement Friday afternoon.
The administration’s step closer to approval of the pipeline also drew attacks from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
“Everyone who understands global warming understands that using tar sands oil means much more than the limited environmental impacts the State Department outlined,” Sanders said in a news release.
The Obama administration plans to make a final decision by the end of the year.
The State Department sought to emphasize Friday that the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) does not mean the die is cast to approve the $7 billion project that TransCanada Corp. is seeking to build.
“It should not be seen as a lean in any direction either for or against this pipeline,” Kerri-Ann Jones, an assistant secretary at the State Department, told reporters Friday.
But the study nonetheless drew praise from advocates of the project, including Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. “The EIS is a key step in the United States’ approval process for the Keystone XL Project,” he said in a statement Friday.
“The Government of Canada will continue to cooperate with the United States to ensure reliable and secure fuel supply between our two countries and is firmly committed to the development of the oil sands in an environmentally and socially responsible manner,” he said.
Republican backers of the project are now urging the Obama administration to provide final approval. “Time to move forward for jobs and energy security,” said Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, in a tweet Saturday.
Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) called for final approval Friday, warning the U.S. must act quickly due to a separate proposal to build a pipeline from the oil sands to ports on Canada’s west coast.
But major environmental groups have united in opposition to the project and say approval could discourage mobilization of President Obama's environmental base in the 2012 election. Some activists are casting it as a referendum on Obama’s commitment to fighting global warming.
Environmentalists led by 350.org founder Bill McKibben will continue demonstrations and civil disobedience near the White House Monday. Hundreds of activists, including McKibben, have been arrested in the demonstrations that began August 20.
Why do liberals preface every position with such wordsmithing? Everone with any sense knows that.........(fill in the blank) It's accepted that........(fill in the blank) People with any common sense at all know that...........(fill in the blank)
Screw the environuts, git’r done.
America has not built one new refinery since the 70's.
Tell Cohen to go roll a big fatty and smoke long and hard.
Much of it is overlain with a layer of caliche clay which is nearly impermeable. That's one of the reasons it recharges so slowly and may well be recharged ONLY during periods of maximum glaciation.
It can also be AVOIDED through clever construction of the pipeline to the East.
The Environazis just don't want us to have Canadian oil. They want us to be further in hock to the Arabs and their friends.
There's a solution to the Environazi threat.
That nails it precisely.
The more access we have to cheaper oil delays their grand plans of renewable energy and they don't give a whit about the cost of that energy.
Praying you’re right, we’ll all be better off with the demise of this bunch.
Well it is certainly proof that our problem isn’t just Obama, but the entire Democrat party. They all need to be defeated.
There ya go. Good jackasses, good jackasses. Constantly doing the wrong thing to make American weak and dependent on bastards like Barfo Chavez. Ya dun good ya bastards, ya dun good.
If the environazis push this crap too far, they may find themselves having their heads separated from their bodies on guillotines like the nobility experienced during the French Revolution.
This pipe line would provide a lot of oil from a pro-American neighbor (Canada), would send a type of oil existing US refineries can economically refine (a heavy type we used to get from Nicaragua), would use pipe and supplies made in the USA, plus would employ thousands of US workers while built and later while running. It would be built to the latest safety and environment standards so those objections are bogus.
Basically, the left and environuts want America to remain screwed in every way possible.
The Environazis are probably employed by the Saudis, and maybe even by OPEC.
Who's trying to kill jobs now, Democrats?
Because liberal demogogues are trained that to set the premises for the debate is more than half the battle. It is dishonest but an effective rhetorical device which we should adopt when possible.
Nutjob doesn’t even begin to describe Steve Cohen
“This being an election year, any Demorat against this project will have a big target on them that their opponent will hammer on, the perfect self inflected wound”
Cohen’s only threat in the next election will come from whatever black candidate runs in the primary against him. He serves the “Ford” district in Memphis
This pipeline will bring thousands of badly needed jobs to several states. Voters should take note of the Democrats who want to scuttle this project and see they are ousted from office.
It is actually worse than what you state. The oil sands will be exploited if the Americans buy the oil or not. If the US nixes the Keystone project, Trans Canada will simply build another pipeline across the mountains to the west coast. From there the oil will be shipped by tanker to another customer. So, if America doesn’t want the oil, China does.
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