Vermont's political leaders have weighed in on President Obama's decision Wednesday toreject a permit for TransCanada to build an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. A new permit possibly for a different route of the Keystone XL Pipeline is expected.
Governor Shumlin said: ‘I applaud President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline. We need to find energy sources that will mitigate the impacts of climate change as much as possible for Vermont and the United States. The Keystone Project would have been a step backwards for energy efficiency and government transparency in the United States. President Obama made the right decision.’
US Senator Patrick Leahy said: ‘I commend the President for standing up to strong-arm tactics that are intended to politicize this issue, short-circuit the environmental review process and force an arbitrary deadline. This inherently dirty tar sands project would be a wasteful diversion from the cleaner and more sustainable energy future and energy security that are so important to our country and our economy.
‘The first Keystone pipeline has ruptured many times already. Even when it was obvious that this blighted tar sands project posed unacceptable risks to American’s health and safety, the oil companies’ defenders in Congress were all for it. Then, when they could no longer ignore its threats to a vital Midwestern aquifer, they said it was all about jobs. Now they are gearing up to smother any meaningful review at all. That would compound the travesty.’
US Senator Bernie Sanders said: ‘The president made the correct decision today in rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline, and I will fight to ensure Congress does not overturn the decision.
‘The United States must help lead the world in combating global warming and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It would be incomprehensible to give approval to a tar sands oil project when producing tar sands oil creates 82 percent more carbon emissions than conventional oil, and when it poses the risk of extremely damaging oil spills. I agree with NASA scientist James Hansen who has stated that fully exploiting the tar sands would mean ‘game over’ for our efforts to reverse global warming.
‘If we are serious about protecting the planet and improving our economy, America’s energy future must focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy. We know that by improving the fuel efficiency of our cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon, an easily achievable accomplishment,we can save up to three times more oil per day than Keystone XL would carry.
‘In my view, this tar sands pipeline is a bad deal for the country and for our planet, and the president has acted in the best interest of the American people in saying no to Keystone XL.’
US Representative Peter Welch said: ‘The President did the right thing in rejecting the arbitrary short circuiting of the environmental review process. While I strongly oppose the tar sands pipeline because I believe it will be harmful to the environment and human health, the review process and related investigation should be allowed to run its course. The stakes are too high for Congress to put its thumb on the scale in favor of this risky project. Waiving away the review process at the point of a political gun is irresponsible and establishes a bad precedent. ‘