Boehner Urges Obama to Approve Keystone Pipeline
Published at
Official Photo by Heather Reed/US House of Representatives(WASHINGTON) — Days after the U.S. State Department issued a report stating that the Keystone XL Pipeline would not have a significant impact on current climate conditions, House Speaker Boehner is demanding that President Obama grant final approval to begin construction on the $7 billion project, which would carry oil sands from Canada down to refineries in the south.
“We need jobs, and we want energy security and the Keystone pipeline is critical to both of them,” Boehner, R-Ohio, said. “I recognize the president has friends that are opposed to this, but if we’re going to operate our government on sound science, it’s time for the president to act.”
As Congress grapples over another suspension of the country’s statutory debt limit this month, Republicans are weighing whether to attach a pipeline rider or something else to the looming increase.
Pipeline aside, Boehner refused to speculate whether there are enough Republican votes to successfully attach any single provision to the looming increase, and some Republicans have intimated that herding 218 votes within their ranks for any single proposal is likely out of reach.
While the debt limit is expected to be reached this Friday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has told Congress that the department can exact extraordinary measures through the end of the month in order to buy Congress more time to work out a deal.
On Tuesday, Boehner scoffed at a reporter who asked whether “something as complex as the Keystone pipeline” could be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations.
“Complex? You think the Keystone pipeline is complex?” Boehner exclaimed in disbelief. “It’s been under study for five years. We build pipelines everywhere in America, every day. Do you realize there are 200,000 miles of pipelines in the United States and the only reason that the president’s involved in the Keystone pipeline is because it crosses an international boundary.”
“Listen, we can build it,” he continued. “There’s nothing complex about the Keystone pipeline. It’s time to build it.”
Still, Boehner was adamant that his objective “is to increase the debt ceiling” in order to avoid default.
“The goal here is to increase the debt ceiling,” Boehner said. “Nobody wants to default on our debt, but while we’re doing this we ought to do something about…jobs and the economy, about the drivers for our debt.”
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio