[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4847]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Madam Speaker, a famous storyteller Mark Twain once 
said, ``Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,'' and 
proponents of the Keystone pipeline are following that advice very 
well. Supporters are painting an awfully rosy picture of Keystone's 
benefits while completely ignore the truth about the devastating damage 
it could cause.
  TransCanada, a Canadian company that wants to build Keystone XL, 
claims the pipeline is safe, but this is the same company that operates 
the existing Keystone pipeline which spilled a dozen times in the first 
year of operation. The worst spill released 21,000 gallons of oil in 
North Dakota, contaminating local soil and water.
  TransCanada claims that significant spills will be few and far 
between, but engineers at the University of Nebraska found that the 
company ignored data on spills and failed to factor in the more 
corrosive tar sands oil transported in Keystone XL. The engineers 
determined that instead of being safe, Keystone XL could have as many 
as 91 major oil spills over the life of the pipeline.
  This concerns me because Keystone XL will run through 2,000 miles of 
American farmland and over our country's largest water aquifer, the 
Ogallala. This aquifer provides drinking water for 2 million people and 
supplies water to more than a fourth of our Nation's irrigated 
farmland.
  Most Americans understand that past oil spills have severe 
environmental impacts, but any Keystone XL spill will be truly 
catastrophic. Keystone XL spills are more dangerous because tar sands 
oil is heavier than conventional oil, meaning it would soak into soil 
and flow into water, sinking, contaminating miles of river and 
shoreline.
  Tar sands oil is also the world's dirtiest oil, and approving the 
pipeline will accelerate its production, endangering our families, 
community, and climate.
  When extracted and refined, tar sands oil emits 17 percent more 
carbon pollution than conventional oil production, which contributes to 
climate change. With 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil flowing through 
the pipeline each day, the metric tons of carbon dioxide added to the 
atmosphere each year would be equal to putting more than 5\1/2\ million 
more cars on our roads.
  This means that building Keystone XL will undo the progress America 
has made to become more energy efficient and reduce carbon pollution 
for the sake of our environment. The bottom line is Keystone XL brings 
a whole lot of environmental risk and very little reward.
  Proponents claim the pipeline will be great for the economy because 
it will promote jobs and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. 
The data, however, doesn't support the claims that the pipeline will 
create 20,000 American jobs. The State Department says Keystone would 
only create 35 permanent jobs and fewer temporary construction jobs 
than initially projected.
  Proponents claim the pipeline will lower gas prices and reduce our 
dependence on foreign oil. In reality, it will do neither. Prices at 
Midwestern pumps could actually increase. The pipeline will divert oil 
from Midwestern refineries designed to produce gasoline to Texas gulf 
refineries designed to produce diesel, which has a high overseas 
demand. Oil economists found a decline in gasoline production would 
increase gas prices in the Midwest between 5 cents to 40 cents per 
gallon.
  We should not move forward on Keystone XL when we know the 
environmental impact far outweighs the projected minimal economic and 
job benefits. Our focus should be on strengthening our clean energy 
economy that has a job growth four times faster than any other sector. 
We have increased our solar capacity to power more than 2.2 million 
homes and made wind power an affordable alternative energy source.
  When something seems too good to be true, it usually is. The Keystone 
XL pipeline sets false expectations about gas prices and job growth. 
The truth is it will only accelerate climate change, harm our 
environment, and jeopardize the health of our communities.

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