WASHINGTON – Republican lawmakers are pointing to layoffs at a Little Rock firm as a reason for speeding approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Approval of the Keystone pipeline, which would transport 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries, has been delayed over environmental concerns in Nebraska.
The State Department is in the process of obtaining additional information regarding alternate routes that avoid the Sand Hills in Nebraska. They do not expect the review process to be completed until the beginning of 2013. Republicans have questioned the need for delay and charged that President Obama is simply looking to avoid a pre-election confrontation with environmental supporters.
House Republicans attached the Keystone issue to legislation that would extend a payroll tax holiday and federal unemployment benefits. The bill was approved Tuesday and is now in the Senate.
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., pointed to the fate of 60 employees of Welspun Tubular as reason to support construction of the Keystone pipeline.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“They say miles of pipeline are on the property and that has caused five dozen employees to lose their jobs,” Terry said. “The pipes would be part of the Keystone oil pipeline which is a project running from Canada to Texas.” “The president has said he would veto the bill,” Terry said.”Mr. President, this is about creating jobs. Please join us.”
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., brought up the same issue Wednesday on the Senate floor.
“Welspun Tubular Company, which makes pipes for the oil industry, has been producing pipe for the Keystone project. Unfortunately, due to the administration’s delay on Keystone, the company has already begun to lay workers off in Little Rock. They have 500 miles of pipe that was produced for the project, ready to go, that is just sitting at the facility,” Boozman said.
Boozman blamed politics for the delay, noting that the State Department has said a permit decision could not be delivered until after November 2012.
“President Obama needs to quit pandering to the radical environmentalists. He needs to do what is best for the country, not what he perceives is best for his re-election,” Boozman said.
Boozman, has also co-sponsored legislation that would require a construction permit to be issued within 60 days of passage.
The State Department issued a statement on Monday cautioning against trying to speed up the process. Forcing a quicker response, they said, would backfire because they would likely have to deny the permit.
“In the absence of properly completing the process, the department would be unable to make a determination to issue a permit for this project,” the State Department said in a statement.
The conservative Heritage Foundation included commentary Tuesday on the Fox 16 Welspun report on its blog on Tuesday.
A clip of the news report was embedded on the site with a description of how Obama’s delaying of the Keystone XL pipeline had resulted in employees at Welspun facing “layoffs and a brief company shutdown.”