Thank you for contacting me about the Keystone XL pipeline. I appreciate your correspondence and hope that you find this response helpful. As you know, in January 2012, President Obama did not approve the proposed route for the Keystone XL pipeline – a decision required under tax legislation passed into law by Congress. Of course, that wasnt the end of the pipeline – the Administration invited TransCanada to propose a new route that better protects sensitive drinking water aquifers (and approved the construction of the southern portion of the line). We have spent the better part of 40 years in this country vowing to chart a course away from volatile, imported fossil fuels. And for 40 years, we have failed – our economy is still held hostage to wild swings in international oil prices. It is not clear to me how permitting the construction of a pipeline that would make it easier to export tar sands oil to overseas markets from Texass Gulf Coast meaningfully contributes to that goal. We still need oil, yes, but should it come from one of the worlds most environmentally destructive sources, in a fashion that will create few permanent jobs and do nothing to bring down the costs of gas here in the U.S.? I have serious concerns that the Keystone XL pipeline, as currently proposed, creates significant new environmental risks in exchange for negligible economic and energy benefits. Thank you again for contacting me about this matter. I appreciate hearing from you and assure you that I will always do my best to represent the views of my constituents in the Senate. In the future, please do not hesitate to call me in my Connecticut office at (860) 549-8463 or in my Washington office at (202) 224-4041. Every Best Wish, Christopher S. Murphy United States Senator
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:24:20 +0000