Clean Energy
BREAKING: U.S. Senate forces Obama’s hand by combining payroll tax break extension with a rushed decision on Keystone XL pipeline
For Immediate Release: December 17, 2011
ST. PAUL – Action today in the U.S. Senate combined the payroll tax break extension with a mandate that the Obama administration must decide upon the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline within 60 days.
The U.S. State Department had previously stated that 60 days is insufficient to conduct its environmental review, and that if forced into a rush to judgment, it would have no choice but to reject TransCanada’s application for a pipeline permit.
Fresh Energy’s executive director Michael Noble issued this statement: “The oil industry’s successful effort to force a quick decision by the Obama administration on the tar sands pipeline has consequences. President Obama now has little choice but to reject the permit that he previously has said requires a thorough and exhaustive review. This will be just one additional step toward the President’s pledge “to end the tyranny of oil.”
Photo: Peter Essick