WASHINGTON – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley issued the following statement after the U.S. State Department released a report on the environmental impacts of the Keystone pipeline:
“When the Keystone pipeline’s own proponents argue that the pipeline is essential to the rapid development of the tar sands, it is clear this report misses the mark on the significant impact this project will have on our air and climate. The State Department is going to have to decide if this pipeline is in the national interest, and I don’t see how an administration that says fighting climate change is a key obligation to our children can approve a new pipeline that helps bring the dirtiest fuels to market.
“Instead of this pipeline, we should be making investments in our infrastructure that will create good-paying jobs that don’t also increase the pollution that threatens our farms, fish, and forests. I support making investments in energy efficiency that not only create these good-paying jobs but help conserve energy and lower energy bills for consumers. An example of this is the program I helped create in the farm bill that will provide funding for low-interest loans to rural energy customers to make our homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient. This is also why I have fought for critical investments in our water infrastructure with the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.”
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