Energy & Commerce Committee Voting to Take the Politics Out of Keystone Pipeline Decision

Today, the House Energy & Commerce Committee will continue fighting for 20,000 new American jobs with a vote on the North American Energy Access Act (H.R. 3548), legislation that will take the Keystone pipeline decision out of the president’s hands and give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority and oversight over the pipelines permit and construction, according to the committee.  The bill requires approval of the Keystone XL pipeline which has the backing of a majority of Americans and members of the president’s own party - within 30 days, and will become part of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act once it is approved by the committee.  In a statement on todays committee action, Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI)underscored the need to separate presidential politics from the pipeline decision for jobs and Americas energy security:

President Obama had more than enough time and information to do the right thing and say yes to this job-creating project, but he failed again and again. Its time for Congress to take this decision out of the president’s hands and take the politics out of a commonsense pipeline that will bring economic and energy security.

According to a recent report, gas prices are once again climbing to more than $4 per gallon.  Last year, when the average gas price was even less than it is today, economists warned that rising prices could further damage the already-struggling economic recovery.  As prices continued to skyrocket, small business struggled, seven in 10 American families faced financial hardship, and out-of-work Americans had even more difficulty finding a job.  President Obama is leading America down the same road and making the economy worse by maintaining theobstacles to American energy production that are driving up gas prices, and House Republicans are fighting back.

With todays committee passage of the North American Energy Access Act, the Republican House majority will take another step toward securing approval of the Keystone XL pipeline that will pump more than 800,000 barrels of oil to U.S. refineries.  As Congressman Boehner (R-West Chester) has promised, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline will be part of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act, legislation that removes barriers to American energy production and opens new areas to energy exploration and development offshore and in Alaska and the Intermountain West (see more: here and here).  Learn more about these critical reforms at speaker.gov/energy, and follow the progress of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act on the American Energy Initiative Facebook page: Facebook.com/AmericanEnergy.

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *