U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) again called for President Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline following the State Department’s release today of its fifth environmental impact study on the pipeline:
“The Obama State Department has said that the Keystone XL pipeline, which has broad bipartisan backing, would support over 40,000 shovel-ready jobs. The president could start creating good-paying jobs with a stroke of his pen, yet for five years now the president has picked far-left special interest groups over jobs for middle-class Americans. The jobs, investment, and energy security provided by this pipeline are clearly in our national interest. The president has called for 2014 to be a ‘year of action,’ and we’re calling on him to use his pen to take immediate action to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.
“Today’s report reinforces what Senate Republicans have been telling the president all along: this energy will be developed regardless of whether or not the pipeline is approved. The only question is whether our closest trading partner ships the energy and jobs to China or the United States.”