With a new route proposed for Keystone XL, the American Petroleum Institute says it’s time to approve the project.
“The legislature of the state of Nebraska agreed to move forward on this,” said API chief economist John Felmy. “Keystone will not present the kind of difficulty that some environmentalists are talking about; the time to move is now.”
TransCanada’s new plan will add 160 kilometres to the 2700 kilometre route to avoid an environmentally sensitive region of Nebraska.
A bill was also passed in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow the project to move ahead, but President Barack Obama has vowed to veto it.
Felmy says the environmental lobby is taking the wrong approach.
“The Canadian oil sands are going to be developed. And if you want the lower environmental impact, they should come to the United States,” said Felmy. “The Canadian oil sands are worth something in the order of 14 trillion dollars, or 10 times Canada’s GDP. The notion that they can stop development because they stopped the pipeline is silly.”
Published April 19, 2012
