Houston, TX – Consumer Energy Alliance and its partner organizations submitted today to federal officials just over 500,000 public comments from Keystone XL supporters in all 50 states.
The overwhelming support from American energy consumers for Keystone XL is motivated by both economic and national security reasons. Winter weather and continuous upheaval in foreign hotspots like Venezuela, Ukraine and the Middle East have a disproportionate impact on American fuel prices – which can be mitigated by increased supplies of North American energy.
Consumer advocate Michael Whatley argues energy self-sufficiency will insulate the United States from mayhem abroad.
“Keystone XL will displace energy from our enemies with energy from our ally,” said Michael Whatley, executive vice president for Consumer Energy Alliance. “Energy prices are influenced by global events. Transforming North America into energy self-sufficiency dampens the price spikes caused by upheaval overseas. The comments we are submitting today from hundreds of thousands of Americans reflect what people across the country are saying: We need jobs, we need a stronger economy, and we need to build the Keystone XL pipeline.”
About the Keystone XL Pipeline
- The Keystone XL pipeline will be the safest pipeline ever built in the United States utilizing 59 additional safety measures beyond what is required by federal law.
- Five separate environmental reviews certified the pipeline would have minimal impact on the environment.
- Construction will help create more than 42,000 jobs nationwide including 9,000 construction jobs building the pipeline.
- $20 billion in new economic growth for the U.S. economy.
- 830,000 barrels of oil per day that will flow through Keystone XL will help reduce fuel prices for families coast to coast, and dramatically improve U.S. energy security by reducing reliance on Venezuelan and Middle Eastern oil.
- Gulf Coast refiners will turn the crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, home heating oil, propane and kerosene.