Leaders work for us, not for Big Oil

Published: June 12, 2012

By Heather Sage

The leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives has tried all manner of cajoling and grandstanding with its congressional colleagues to get the Keystone XL pipeline approved as requested by its Big Oil benefactors.

Now it is resorting to double dealing with the Senate and the American people by greasing a federal transportation-funding bill with this most un-American pipeline.

The Senate has passed a bipartisan transportation bill by a vote of 74-22 ahead of the June 30 expiration date for current federal funding. The House countered with a bill that includes a provision requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve the Keystone XL pipeline within 30 days.

If FERC fails to do so, the pipeline would be automatically approved. In pandering to the fossil-fuel lobby, the House is placing U.S. jobs, the economy and the environment in great peril.

Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges are crumbling and public transportation systems are falling victim to service cutbacks as riders’ rates rise. A transportation bill would protect 3 million high-paying jobs across the country, including 73,000 in our state, and allow us to restore critical infrastructure while remaining competitive into the 21st century. This is the straightforward proposition Americans need.

Sadly, the House of Representatives is making its vote for a transportation bill conditional on approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which could create 6,500 temporary jobs at most and would actually kill more jobs than it creates because it would stifle investment in the clean-energy economy.

But it’s far worse than that: The pipeline would export tar sands oil that is some of the most corrosive on the planet across the farmland and aquifers of America’s heartland to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico for shipment overseas — tax-free. Add to that the fact that other tar sands pipelines have shown themselves to be prone to toxic spills — the saga of a million-gallon oil spill in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River just last year — and we have a recipe for disaster not that far from home.

The Keystone XL pipeline is not designed to benefit ordinary Americans. Rather, it would hurt us because Midwest refineries that service the domestic market would sit idle, raising gasoline prices while Big Oil rushes to the gusher in the Gulf.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, if expansion of tar sands is unchecked, it would be impossible to reach our goals to reduce global warming pollution and would have serious impacts for people and wildlife.

Do we really need to hand over the keys to the already-rich fossil-fuel kingdom?

It’s time to impress upon our leaders that they are working on behalf of the people, not oil companies. We call on Sen. Bob Casey to carry our message to his colleagues in Washington.

Heather Sage is vice president of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture).