11.06.13

Hoeven, Baucus Continue Partnership to Press for Keystone XL Project

WILLISTON, N.D. – Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) continued their drumbeat for the Keystone XL pipeline project as a Canadian trade delegation arrived in Montana. The energy-focused trade mission will feature luncheons in Sidney, Mont., today and Williston, N.D., tomorrow, sponsored by the Montana World Trade Center to focus on energy production and the Keystone XL pipeline project.

“In 2012, North Dakota exported more than $3 billion worth of goods to Canada—an increase of almost $90 million from the previous year,” Hoeven told the group in a video statement. “The state’s trade relationship with Canada is growing and people on both sides of the border are benefitting. We need to continue to build our trade relationship and to work on projects that are mutually beneficial. In that regard, the energy industry presents a huge opportunity, and the Keystone XL pipeline project is emblematic of that opportunity.”

“After five years of studies and red tape, it’s well past time to put Americans to work building the Keystone pipeline. The President’s own State Department has released three studies showing there will be no harm to the environment. There are no more excuses left,” Baucus said. “More than 23,000 Montana jobs depend on trade with Canada, and Keystone will help us continue to leverage our partnership with Canada to meet energy needs and support jobs on both sides of the border.”

The State Department has released three draft Environmental Impact Statements finding “no significant impacts” on the environment. In its latest analysis in March, the State Department concluded that “there would be no substantive change in global greenhouse gas emissions” associated with Keystone XL: (http://keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/draftseis/index.htm).

Senators Hoeven and Baucus have partnered to gain approval for the Keystone XL pipeline because it will benefit both their home states and the nation. Legislation the senators introduced last March as part of the Senate budget bill was supported by a bipartisan group of more than 60 senators. The vote put the U.S. Senate on record in support of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Keystone XL pipeline will transport 830,000 barrels a day of oil—including 100,000 barrels of light sweet Bakken crude from Montana and North Dakota—to U.S. refineries. Working together as friends and allies, the United States and Canada can help both nations become energy secure. That means the U.S. and Canada will no longer have to depend on volatile regions of the world like the Middle East and Venezuela for oil.

“The Keystone XL Pipeline will help generate more energy, more jobs, more economic growth and greater security, the senators said jointly. “This is a big win for both our home states and the United States and Canada. We have the support of the U.S. Congress and the American people because this project is clearly in our national interest. After more than five years of review and multiple studies, all pointing to its safety and benefits, it is well past time for the President to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, and we will continue to make that case.”