WASHINGTON, DC –Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Co-Chairs Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), applauded President Obama after the White House announced he would veto legislation that approves construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline if it comes to his desk.
“The fact that the first item on Republican leaders’ agenda in 2015 is a giveaway for corporate oil interests speaks volumes about where their priorities lie,” Rep. Grijalva said. “Democrats need to step up to protect public health and the environment by uniting against Keystone XL and backing the president’s veto if necessary. This dirty pipeline threatens to pollute our lands, contaminate our water, and offers the American people nothing in return. Republican claims that it will create jobs and lower gas prices defy every independent analysis, which raises the question why they would push so hard for it in the first place. In their rush to deliver for Big Oil, the GOP is sidestepping established procedure and rubber-stamping a pipeline before it even has a legal route through Nebraska. This is not good governance, it’s a sham, and I applaud President Obama for issuing a veto threat for this toxic legislation.”
“I applaud President Obama’s threat to veto legislation approving the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline,” Rep. Ellison said. “Building the Keystone XL pipeline risks our land, air and water for a product and profits that will be mostly exported, and leaves American taxpayers on the hook for spills by a Canadian corporation. The transport of dangerous tar sands from Canada through the United States to be sold around the world won’t lower gas prices for working Americans. If we’re going to stop the worst effects of climate change, we must stop projects like Keystone XL.”
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