US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), a member of the Senate energy and environment committees, issued the following statement today after President Barack Obama vetoed a bill to allow construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
“I applaud the president for vetoing the Keystone pipeline bill. This veto tells the world that our nation takes seriously the planetary crisis of global warming and that we will not support legislation that would let a Canadian oil company ship some of the dirtiest oil on the planet across the United States.
“Climate change is real, it is caused by human activity and it is already causing devastating problems. Our job now is to aggressively transform our energy system away from fossil fuels into energy efficiency and sustainable energy. I urge my Senate colleagues to sustain the president’s veto.”
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) said in a statement: “When the Senate considered the bill to fast-track the Keystone XL Pipeline last month – the top legislative priority, over everything else, of this new Republican-led Congress -- I was proud to vote no. Though this reckless legislation ultimately passed the Senate and House, I applaud President Obama for following through on his pledge to veto it. Keystone is part of the carbon-heavy energy policies of the past. I will continue to oppose any attempt to fast-track this pipeline for the inherently dirty process of extracting, refining and transporting tar sands oil, and I remain committed to finding ways to move our country forward in charting a sustainable energy future that is based on investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy resources. This bill represents a regrettable departure from that path toward the energy future. Rather than wasting time on a bill that sacrifices our environment and land for the interests of Big Oil, we should be having a debate about how to protect our resources and environment for now, and for the generations to come.”
WASHINGTON, February 24, 2015