[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 261]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, a new Congress, but the sights are 
familiar: the same rhetoric with no regard for the truth.
  Ahead of another ill-advised vote to approve the Keystone pipeline, 
the same myths are being spread pitting environmental protection 
against job creation.
  Winston Churchill once said:

       The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, 
     ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

  Let us separate myths from reality. It is time to decide: truth or 
scare. Approval of the Keystone pipeline will have very little impact 
in the way of job creation but a detrimental impact on the environment 
and hinder our promise of a clean energy future. That is the truth.
  My question is: Why are we ignoring these facts and voting once again 
to approve the Keystone pipeline, which would carry one of the dirtiest 
energy sources on the planet? Perhaps it has something to do with the 
many myths associated with this project. Pipeline proponents are quick 
to point to the creation of jobs as the primary reason for the 
project's approval; however, the facts don't match up.
  According to the only independent analysis by Cornell University's 
Global Labor Institute, these claims are not accurate. TransCanada's 
job claims are complete fabrications. The Cornell report concludes that 
Keystone will not be a major source of jobs, nor will it play any 
substantial role at all in putting Americans back to work.
  The State Department says Keystone would only create 35 permanent 
jobs and 1,950 construction jobs for 2 years. Most of those jobs 
created by this project will be nonlocal and temporary.
  In reality, we can and should be creating jobs by improving our 
existing infrastructure and investing in clean energy, education, and 
research. In fact, Keystone would make it much harder for the United 
States to invest in clean energy jobs and address global climate 
change. Our best bet at a clean energy economy lies far, far away from 
tar sands. That is the truth.
  Proponents of the pipeline claim that Keystone will bring down gas 
prices for Americans, but in reality, prices at Midwestern pumps could 
actually increase. According to its own documents, TransCanada expects 
the pipeline to increase gas prices in the Midwest up to 15 cents per 
gallon.
  Currently, a surplus of gas in the region means that our prices stay 
stable. If the pipeline is built, oil companies will be able to send 
their product to the gulf coast for export, which will reduce the 
surplus and drive up costs for Midwestern consumers. That is the truth.
  On top of all this, let's not forget TransCanada is the same company 
that operates the existing Keystone pipeline which spilled a dozen 
times in the first year of operation. The twelfth spill released 21,000 
gallons of oil in North Dakota, contaminating the soil and water.
  Across the country, about 3.2 million gallons of oil spill from 
pipelines every year. These spills pose a great threat to American 
drinking water, especially when you consider the proposed project route 
would cross 1,073 surface water bodies and affect 383 acres of 
wetlands.
  Most Americans understand that oil spills in the past have had severe 
environmental impacts, but any Keystone spill would be truly 
catastrophic. That is the truth.
  In the end, Keystone brings a whole lot of environmental risk and 
very little reward. It is time we stopped perpetuating the myths. It is 
time we heed the warnings. It is time we decide: truth or scare.

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