Obama Vetoes Keystone XL
Washington, D. C. – President Obama vetoed the controversial TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline proposal today stating that the bill authorizing the construction sent by Congress has ‘earned my veto’.
In January, the Senate passed a bill to approve the contruction of the pipeline. Today, President Obama described the bill as an act of Congress which “conflicts with established executive branch procedures and cuts short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest — including our security, safety, and environment — it has earned my veto.”
Environmental activists have staged marches, rallies, sit-ins and acts of civil disobedience over the past four years to express opposition to the construction of the tarsands pipeline.
350.org Executive Director May Boeve issued a press statement which said, “We’re thrilled to see President Obama take an important first step by vetoing this love letter to Big Oil.”
Americans for Prosperity claimed that the bill would have ‘created thousands of shovel-ready jobs,’ however ealier projections made by TransCanada that the project would create 42,000 long term jobs has since been refuted. According to a State Department report, once the construction is complete, the project would only create a total of about 50 U.S. jobs.
[Tweet “Thank You, Mr. President for rejecting Keystone XL! @whitehouse #climatechange”]
350.org said, “As the President himself has argued, Keystone XL would worsen climate change, threaten the safety of farmers and landowners in America’s heartland, and create essentially no long-term jobs.”
