White House Statements “Factually Incorrect”
UPDATE: Senate bill fails to pass by one vote, 59-41
TransCanada Corp.’s (ticker: TRP) president and CEO Russ Girling today provided a comment in advance of the debate and vote on U.S. Senate bill 2280:
“I was very pleased to see another vote in the House of Representatives in favor of Keystone XL, a vote that demonstrates such broad bi-partisan support for the project. This past week, two more polls were released that show two thirds of Americans continue to support the project and the jobs and energy security Keystone XL will provide. This builds on 25 previous polls since 2011 that found a similar level of support,” Girling said in a press release.
White House Statements were “Factually Incorrect”: Girling
Girling went on to say he was surprised by some of the comments being made about the Keystone XL pipeline, saying some were “factually incorrect.”
After the House of Representatives voted to approve the Keystone XL pipeline last week, President Obama said: “I have to constantly push back against this idea that somehow the Keystone pipeline is either this massive jobs bill for the United States or is somehow lowering gas prices. Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land down to the Gulf where it will be sold everywhere else. It doesn’t have an impact on U.S. gas prices.”
Regarding Keystone being an export pipeline, Girling said that Keystone XL will carry oil from both Canada and the U.S. to Gulf coast refineries. “A receipt point at Baker, Montana is an important part of the project that will allow Bakken oil to be delivered to U.S. refineries.”
Valero Won’t Export Keystone Crude
“Valero, the largest refiner in the United States, said last week the company does not plan to export any of the crude it has contracted to transport through the Keystone XL pipeline. They said they intend to process that crude and turn it into products at its refineries on the Gulf Coast to be used by Americans – gasoline, diesel, aviation fuels and many other products,” Girling said.
Department of State: 42,000 jobs and $3.4 billion in GDP from KXL
According to the U.S. Department of State’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS), Keystone XL would create 42,000 direct and indirect jobs and $3.4 billion in U.S. GDP. With 75% of the pipeline, pumps and other fabricated parts being purchased from North American steel mills and over $800 million spent just on purchasing pipeline already, TransCanada has said that continued delays will hinder the U.S. economy.
“We put 9,000 Americans to work building the first two phases of the pipeline back in 2009/2010. We hired another 5,000 to build the southern leg of the project two years ago, and we want to put 9,000 more Americans to work to finish what we started,” Girling said in the TransCanada release.
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote as early as 6:15 p.m. ET today regarding the pipeline. With the chamber stuck at 59 votes in favor of Keystone XL at this point, the 800,000 BOEPD pipeline is still one vote short of being filibuster proof, reports Reuters. If the bill does pass the Senate, it will go to President Obama for his decision on whether or not to veto the project.
If the president decides to veto, which seems likely, the bill will be returned to the Senate for a vote that would require two thirds in order to override a veto.
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