I believe President Obama, after reviewing the state department’s report, made the right decision concerning the Keystone XL pipeline. After Republicans demanded a decision in 60 days, the president made a decision that I believe is correct. The Republicans now claim that the president doesn’t care about job creation or energy independence. These claims are false on their face and presented by the same people that will profit from this pipeline being created.
By TransCanada’s (the developer) own estimates, this pipeline would employ between 4,000 to 6,000 people temporarily, and only 1,000 to 2,000 would be local jobs. Not the 100,000 that Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, claimed in front of cameras. Once again, he is using false information to mislead people and create confusion on a topic of great importance. He and other leaders, including Newt Gingrich, claim that the president does not care about unemployment, all while the unemployment rate continues to drop and the economy rebounds.
Republicans rant about how this pipeline will help with energy independence, but how does extracting oil from sand, piping it to refineries through environmentally fragile areas, and preparing it for export help us with energy issues at home? This low-grade oil will be sold to the highest bidder, not the U.S.
Scott White
Vancouver
