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BRT: Delay of $7 Billion Keystone XL Pipeline is Blow to Job Creation, Energy Security

Business Roundtable (BRT) today expressed extreme disappointment with the Department of State’s decision that will keep 20,000 construction workers on the sidelines by delaying approval of the Keystone XL pipeline until 2013.

“The State Department claims to need even more time for review, but this project has undergone years of exhaustive analysis,” said BRT President John Engler. “One thing we already know for sure: This delay is delaying jobs.”

“Keystone XL would create 20,000 much-needed, high-wage construction and others jobs almost immediately, addressing what should be a national priority – lowering the unacceptably high level of unemployment.”

The delay will also undermine U.S. energy security by blocking reliable imports of oil from a U.S. ally, Canada,” Engler said.

“The Department of State has thoroughly analyzed the potential environmental impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline.  This review has lasted for more than three years at a cost of many millions of dollars.  At more than 1,000 pages in length, the final Federal Environmental Impact Statement found no substantial environmental concerns that would legitimately block the project. There have been numerous public meetings and multiple comment periods to review this project.

“The decision to approve this $7 billion pipeline project should have been an easy one for the Administration to make,” Engler continued. “Unfortunately, it has become yet another example of how difficult, if not impossible, it is to gain approval to expand any business in the U.S.   If there ever was a case study that demonstrates the need to fundamentally reform our regulatory and permitting processes in the U.S., this is it.”

“President Obama this year told Executive Branch agencies to give more serious consideration to what kind of impact their regulatory and permitting activities would have on jobs, business and growth. The State Department seems not to have gotten the message.”

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