Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal declared that, in the wake of a new State Department report on the Keystone XL Pipeline, any further opposition by the White House would be “purely ideological.”
The governor made the claim during an interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley, who brought up the environmental impact study released by the State Department on Friday. That study found minimal damage would be done to the climate or environment due to the Keystone Pipeline’s construction and use, dismantling a key argument behind the White House’s five-year delay. “Is there any reason for the president to oppose it now?” Crowley asked.
“Absolutely not, unless it’s just purely ideological reasons,” Jindal asserted. “The reality is the that the Canadians, one of our closest allies, want to help us become more energy independent. And this goes to an absolutely critical issue. Cheap, affordable domestic energy is an absolutely critical component for us to revive our manufacturing-based economy.”
Jindal noted that, despite a roaring energy economy in the United States, President Barack Obama has done little to support new projects and technologies. “The president, you know — he’s been ambiguous on fracking, they’ve sent mixed messages on that. I know he takes credit for the domestic energy boom, but the reality is a lot of that’s happening on private lands, not federal lands.”
“This is a no-brainer,” the governor contended. “This decision should’ve been a long time ago. The Canadians are going to go and get this oil, Candy. The question is whether they sell it to us or the Chinese. I’d rather it come here to America.”
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