After 8 years, countless federal reviews, dozens of public meetings and over a million comments – the Keystone XL Pipeline is finally set to move forward. Keep in mind, we fought and won a world war in a shorter period than what it took for us to advance this critical infrastructure project forward.
The Obama administration ruled in 2014, there was no environmental justification to block the construction or operation of the pipeline, Keystone XL carried wide support from Congress and over 70% of the country – politics was the only issue standing in the way.
Obama declined to move forward in 2015 citing, “Keystone XL would harm the United States’ standing in the world as a leader in fighting climate change.”
Donald Trump is the first non-politician to become POTUS in American history; he saw beyond the partisan divide and moved quickly to sign a memorandum reviving the project shortly after the inauguration. Trump’s state department issued a permit two months afterwards.
“In making his determination that issuance of this permit would serve the national interest, the undersecretary considered a range of factors, including but not limited to foreign policy; energy security; environmental, cultural, and economic impacts; and compliance with applicable law and policy,” State said.
What impact will Keystone XL have on the economy and environment?
Keystone XL will generate jobs, strengthen the economy and improve national security. Various reports estimate the pipeline will create 42,000 – 55,000 jobs during construction, provide a $20 billion economic impact and generate $5 billion in annual property tax revenue to fund public services – education, healthcare, transportation and public safety.
The 875-mile pipeline plans to carry over 800,000 barrels a day of heavy oil sands petroleum from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska. From there, the resource would continue through existing lines to Gulf Coast refineries.
Environmentalists and liberal democrats falsely claimed Keystone XL is a threat to greenhouse gas emissions. However Obama’s state department declared, “From a global perspective, the project is not likely to result in any incremental greenhouse gas emissions.” Not to mention, Canada planned to move forward with developing its oil sands with or without Keystone XL, seeking to partner with countries like China where current emissions standards are not as strict.
In America, we have a technology-driven energy industry that supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivering more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, oil and natural gas companies have invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.
What would more access to America’s rich stores of oil and gas mean?
It would mean 1.4 million new jobs nationwide. It would mean more than 10 million barrels of oil per day produced by 2030. And it would mean more than $800 billion in new revenue added to government accounts by 2030.
Right here in North Carolina, if policies are kept reasonable and sensible, the industry is expected to create over 45,000 new well-paying jobs by 2030. According to Public Opinion Strategies and Frederick Polls, 75 percent of North Carolina voters support more development of U.S. oil and natural gas resources, and more than 90 percent believe more oil and natural gas development would provide major benefits to the nation, including more American jobs.
Additionally, 82 percent believe more development would help reduce consumer energy costs and 86 percent believe it would increase our nation’s energy security. Seventy-two percent also support exploration and drilling off the coast of North Carolina to access oil and natural gas.
Energy should never be a divisive issue. It’s not about politics or partisanship – it’s about real people. We must continue to pursue pro-growth policies that support energy independence, affordability and overall security.
