Keystone XL Receives Support from More than 100,000 Americans
Comments Urge Swift Review and Approval of Project
HOUSTON, TX: Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) announced today that it submitted over 100,000 individual public comments calling on the U.S. Department of State to swiftly approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The comments, which come from residents of nearly everyU.S. state, urge the agency to examine only those environmental impact issues associated with the new route throughNebraska in its supplement review.
CEA Executive Vice President Michael Whatley commented on the broad support for the project:
“Consumer Energy Alliance is very pleased to see tens of thousands of our consumer-advocates voice their support for this critical project. As the State Department plans its next environmental assessment, we strongly urge the agency not to unduly expand the scope of the review to include issues not directly associated with the new route throughNebraska. Doing so will unnecessarily delay the project and delay the significant economic benefits this project will bring to American energy consumers and American workers.
“After over three years of study, the State Department concluded in 2011 that the pipeline would not pose any significant threat to the environment. In order to complete the new review expeditiously, CEA believes the State Department should utilize its existing study to the maximum extent possible. We simply cannot delay this project any longer, especially as millions of American struggle to find work.”
On May 4, 2012 TransCanada submitted an application for a presidential permit to the State Department, triggering a public comment period on new issues that should be addressed in the next round of environmental assessment. The State Department previously completed a three-year environmental review of Keystone XL that concluded with the release of a Final Environmental Impact Statement in August 2011. Experts project that the project will create over 18,000 construction and manufacturing jobs and generate investments of over $1.2 billion in the corridor states ofMontana, South Dakota and Nebraska.
