CEA Praises U.S. State Department Release of Final Environmental Impact Statement on Keystone XL Pipeline
EIS Supports Earlier Findings that Pipeline will have Limited Adverse Environmental Impacts
WASHINGTON DC- The State Department today released its final environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Keystone XL pipeline. The EIS, which supports the department’s initial finding that the Keystone XL pipeline will have limited adverse environmental impacts, is a victory for American consumers.
Michael Whatley, executive vice president of the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), praised the announcement and released the following statement:
“We are glad that the State Department has issued this favorable final statement and that the process of approving the pipeline is moving forward. The Keystone XL pipeline is being built in a way that is safer and steadier than any other in the country. This is a huge win for American consumers. The pipeline will not only help lower fuel prices but it will create 20,000 much needed high-wage jobs in America’s heartland, generate more than $20 billion in economic growth, and significantly reduce our dependence on oil from unstable regimes.”
Rich Moskowitz, vice president and regulatory affairs council at the American Trucking Association and chairman of CEA stated: “The Keystone XL will significantly lower diesel prices by allowing the addition of 700,000 barrels of product per day into the US markets. This will have a positive impact on truckers and the U.S. economy as a whole.”
The 1,700-mile proposed pipeline would deliver 700,000 barrels of U.S. and Canadian crude oil per day to the U.S. Keystone XL received approval from Canada’s National Energy Board in 2010, but the project also requires a Presidential Permit from the U.S. Department of State because it crosses an international border.
In June, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) delivered more than 62,000 public comments supporting the project to the U.S. Department of State, all of which came from people living in the six states through which the proposed pipeline will travel: Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
