House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline was “sickening,” even though it wasn’t a surprise.
“This decision isn’t surprising, but it is sickening,” the Wisconsin Republican said. “By rejecting this pipeline, the president is rejecting tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.”
“He is rejecting our largest trading partner and energy supplier. He is rejecting the will of the American people and a bipartisan majority of the Congress,” he added. “If the president wants to spend the rest of his time in office catering to special interests, that’s his choice to make. But it’s just wrong. In the House, we are going to pursue a bold agenda of growth and opportunity for all.”
Ryan was joined by other Republicans in their critique of Obama’s decision, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“Given this project’s importance to North American energy independence, the question still remains not if, but when Keystone will be built,” McConnell said. “Republicans have no intention of giving up on common-sense jobs ideas like Keystone.”
The Republican-led House and Senate have passed serveral measures related to building the pipeline. Obama in February vetoed legislation to greenlight the project.
McConnell said he also wasn’t surprised by Obama’s decision. “It’s become painfully clear that the president is more interested in appeasing deep-pocketed special interests and extremists than helping tens of thousands of Americans who could have benefited from Keystone’s good jobs,” McConnell said.
A top House Republican added that the move was “one of the most radical and dangerous moves” he could have made.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said the rejection was “one of the most radical and dangerous moves” he could have made. Bishop said he thought the decision was made due to pressure from environmentalists, who have lobbied heavily against the pipeline because they believe it would discourage renewable energy by facilitating more oil production.
“President Obama has put the final nail in the Keystone XL pipeline’s coffin, thereby nailing his legacy as the most anti-energy extremist President the nation has ever had,” Bishop said. “Tossing aside years of environmental process from his own State Department in favor of an agenda favored by a few elites, he has rejected critical infrastructure that keeps America energy strong and helps our allies. This is one of the most radical and dangerous moves that the President could make in his final term.”
American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said Obama’s move was political.
“It’s ironic that the administration would strike a deal to allow Iranian crude onto the global market while refusing to give our closest ally, Canada, access to U.S. refineries,” said Gerard. “This decision will cost thousands of jobs and is an assault to American workers. It’s politics at its worst.
