Massachusetts Senator Markey's position is based on FACTS and well-reasoned, as always!
We should be proud Senator Markey represents Massachusetts!
When completed, it has been estimated that the Dirty XL Pipeline will employ 30 people, while Clean Energy Jobs continue to soar.
EDWARD
J. MARKEY
MASSACHUSETTS |
218
RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20510 (202) 224-2742 | |
United
States Senate
January 30,
2015
|
Thank
you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding the Keystone XL
pipeline. I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter.
Before I
was elected to the United States Senate, I was the Ranking Member of the House
Natural Resources Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce
Committee, giving me close involvement in the debate over our country's energy
policy and the Keystone XL pipeline. Our nation's energy policy should protect
our air and water, address the threat of global warming by reducing carbon
pollution, strengthen our energy security by reducing our country's dependence
on foreign oil, and create jobs in the United States by encouraging the
development of clean energy.
I oppose
the Keystone pipeline project because it would not advance any of these goals.
The Keystone XL pipeline would ask the United States to bear all of the
environment risks without ensuring any benefits for American consumers or our
energy security. The pipeline would transport Canadian tar sands oil, some of
the dirtiest, most pollution-packed oil on the planet, through the United States
to refineries in Texas, where it could be exported to foreign markets. Last
year, we exported more than 1 billion barrels of refined petroleum products from
the United States. Roughly 80 percent of those exports were from the Gulf of
Mexico, exactly where the Keystone pipeline would terminate.
TransCanada,
the foreign company proposing this pipeline, would like to use our country as a
middleman to transport this dirty oil from Canada to the rest of the world. When
I asked a senior TransCanada official during a hearing in the
House Energy and Commerce Committee whether he would commit to keeping the oil
and refined fuels from the Keystone pipeline in America, he said "no." We should
not allow our climate to be harmed by this dirty oil, and then add the insult of
exporting that oil abroad to benefit other economies. That is a bad deal for
U.S. consumers, our energy security and our planet.
When the
Senate considered S.1, the Keystone Pipeline Approval Act, I introduced an
amendment that would have called the oil industry's bluff that the Keystone XL
pipeline would enhance our energy security. My legislation would have ensured
that if the Keystone XL pipeline is approved, the oil and refined fuels from the
pipeline stay in the United States. There is nothing in S. 1 or current U.S. law
to prevent the oil transported through the Keystone XL pipeline from simply
being exported to foreign markets. That is unacceptable. Unfortunately, instead
of holding a straight up-or-down vote my amendment, my colleagues on the other
side of the aisle used a procedural maneuver to block my amendment by a vote of 57-42 on January
20, 2015.
The
proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline also continue to ignore the lessons of
recent tar sands oil spills such as the ExxonMobil pipeline spill in Arkansas in
2013 and the Enbridge tar sands spill in Michigan in 2010. Right now, there is a
loophole that allows tar sands oil to avoid paying taxes into our oil spill cleanup
fund even though it can be more difficult and costly to clean up than regular
crude. Tar sands oil, like that would be transported through the Keystone
pipeline, currently gets a free ride through U.S. pipelines because of this
loophole. That means that if this Canadian tar sands oil spills, it will be
American taxpayers footing the bill for the cleanup. I filed an amendment in the
Senate to S.1 that would close this loophole for tar sands oil. My colleagues on
the other side of the aisle voted against this important amendment to protect
our environment and taxpayers by a vote of 54-44 on January 29, 2015.
I spoke in opposition to and voted against this legislation to
approve the Keystone XL pipeline but S. 1. was approved by the Senate by a vote
of 62 - 36 on January, 29, 2015. The Keystone XL pipeline would force America to
bear the environmental risk while oil companies reap the financial rewards. It
would increase our emissions of heat trapping gases. And at the end of the day,
it wouldn't even increase our energy security. I do not believe this pipeline is
in the national interest and it should be rejected. I am pleased that the White
House has said that the President would veto the Keystone legislation, should it
reach him. I will continue to closely monitor this legislation as it moves
through the legislative process.
I
believe that our nation needs an energy strategy that includes wind, solar and
energy efficiency. We need to level the energy playing field by extending tax
credits for the wind, solar and other renewable energy industries that are
creating permanent jobs in Massachusetts and across our country.
Thank
you again for contacting me about this issue. If I can be of further assistance,
please do not hesitate to contact me. To sign up for my newsletter, visithttp://www.markey.senate.gov/newsletter. You can also follow
me on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Sincerely,
Edward
J. Markey
United States Senator
United States Senator
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