[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7150-7151]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my grave concern about 
the Keystone XL pipeline and H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act, 
which, unfortunately, passed through committee this past week. It will 
allow accelerated building of this pipeline and give certain advantages 
to a foreign country--Canada--against our citizens that otherwise would 
have rights to go to court, which are being deprived.
  The world's foremost climatologist, former NASA scientist Dr. James 
Hansen, was one of the first scientists to warn of the dangers of 
burning carbon fuel. He has likened the building and the use of the 
Keystone XL pipeline to the lighting of the ``fuse to the biggest 
carbon bomb on the planet,'' and nothing less.
  Dr. Hansen warns that the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline will 
only reinforce our dependence on fossil fuels, not strengthen our 
Nation's energy independence, which has been argued by some on the 
other side.
  By furthering our dependence on fossil fuels, we only push Earth 
farther and farther away from the point of no return. Just last week, 
the highest rating of carbon in our atmosphere ever was recorded in 
Hawaii--400 points. This portends a hotter summer even than the hottest 
summers we have ever faced on this planet.

[[Page 7151]]

  Building a pipeline that carries the dirtiest of oils--tar sands--
from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico on their way to China is exactly the 
opposite of addressing climate change in America. So, next week, I urge 
my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 3 in the interest of preserving 
our Earth for generations to come.

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