For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON, DC — Environmental regulators in the State of Nebraska released yesterday a map that allows TransCanada to implement a plan for development of the Keystone XL pipeline that avoids the Sandhills region. IER President Tom Pyle issued the following statement upon news that planning for Keystone XL’s new route through Nebraska could proceed:
“Now that Nebraska has provided a clear map to develop the Keystone XL pipeline in a way that avoids environmentally sensitive areas in the Sandhills region to the satisfaction of state regulators, the Obama administration must act immediately to authorize the pipeline’s construction, which has now run up more than $1 billion in unnecessary costs due to bureaucratic delays. Nebraskans know best how to care for their environment, and state officials have given industry a green light to proceed. Thousands of unemployed Americans from Montana to Texas are ready for the much-needed jobs that Keystone XL will create. American consumers are unnecessarily sending more than $70 million overseas for oil that we could otherwise be purchasing from a reliable North American trade partner. Further administration delays only serve to imperil an economic recovery in America’s heartland and weaken our national security. The president must stop appeasing his anti-affordable energy lobbyists and authorize Keystone XL. No more excuses, Mr. President.”
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