On March 30, 2011, President Obama said, “We willkeep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about along-term policy for secure, affordable energy.” The Administration has achance to follow through on that rhetoric by issuing a permit for a keypipeline project, called Keystone XL, to deliver much-needed energy resourcesto our country. That’s why we need your help!
Following last year’s oil spill in the Gulf ofMexico, the Obama Administration placed most of America’s vast energy stores underlock and key, grinding the exploration process to a near halt and complicatingthe prospects for a stronger economy. NTU continues to seek legislation thatwill remove these shackles, but now, bureaucratic obstinacy threatens topermanently damage the relationship with our largest and most stable supplierof oil – Canada.
The State Department, led by Hillary Clinton, hascontinually delayed issuing a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project thatwould deliver Canadian crude oil to U.S. refineries. The Keystone pipelinecould provide an extra 500,000 barrels of oil a day from a trusted ally closeto home, Given the ongoing political unrest in the Middle East, which helpedcause gas prices to skyrocket, the advantage of having more energy sources hasnever been more clear.
Moving forward with the Keystone XL pipeline wouldalso provide a critical boost to our economic recovery. With nearly 1,000businesses in 47 states already providing services to the development ofCanadian oil sands, the United States is already intimately tied to theirsuccess. In fact, according to an economic analysis conducted by the Canadian EnergyResearch Institute, investing in Canadian oil could create 343,000 new Americanjobs and add tens of billions of dollars in annual Gross Domestic Product overthe next five years.
While we keep working to loosen the U.S. government’s stranglehold onutilizing our own offshore energy and natural gas deposits, we are lucky thatthere is a reliable source of oil in our neighbor to the north. That’s whypassing up this opportunity to approve the Keystone XL pipeline could provedevastating to America’s long-term energy needs. Tell Secretary of StateHillary of Clinton that it’s time to put an end to the bureaucratic obstruction. Tell her to approve the Keystone XLpipeline!