Congresswoman Chellie Pingree voted against a bill today that would ram through permitting of the controversial Keystone pipeline, bypassing the approval process that is already underway.
"I don't think the Keystone pipeline is in the national interest because it would create very few American jobs and do little to address our energy needs," Pingree said. "But this bill doesn't even let us have that debate and is really just an end-run on the process, giving Trans Canada a building permit for a pipeline to ship their dirty tar-sands oil through the U.S. and export it to other countries."
According to the U.S. State Department, only about 50 permanent jobs would be created by the Keystone pipeline. And experts say once the tar sands oil reaches the Gulf Coast, much of it would likely end up being exported to other countries.
"We can produce a lot more jobs for a much smaller investment by focusing on clean energy projects," Pingree said. "Maine is a great example with the wind power industry already supporting over 1,500 jobs a year while at the same time creating a new source of clean energy that we can use right here at home."
There has been widespread opposition to building a pipeline to export tar sands oil through Canada, leading developers to look to the United States to export their product.
Pingree, a vice chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, is a long-time opponent of the Keystone proposal and says the project would contribute to global warming pollution.
"There is no way around it: tar sands oil is a dirty fuel and has a huge carbon footprint. And if this pipeline gets built through the middle of the United States it is going to make it even more profitable to extract every drop of tar sands oil they can," Pingree said.
The bill passed by the House also fails to close a loophole that would leave taxpayers on the hook for spills of tar sands oil in the UnitedStates.
President Obama has said he would veto the legislation.
