Union leaders slam Obama over punting Keystone XL Pipeline decision

Occupy Chicago protesters, 11/17/11

The House Energy and Commerce Committee posted some remarks from union leaders in regards to President Obama's decision to punt the call on whether to build the Keystone XL Pipeline that will not only create thousands of jobs, but it will bring Canadian oil to the United States--so we can buy less petroleum from unfriendly nations.

Yesterday I saw some Laborers Union members marching at Occupy Chicago. Perhaps they should be protesting at the White House instead.

"Environmentalists formed a circle around the White House and within days the Obama Administration chose to inflict a potentially fatal delay to a project that is not just a pipeline, but is a lifeline for thousands of desperate working men and women. The administration chose to support environmentalists over jobs – job-killers win, American workers lose. Environmental groups from the Natural Resources Defense Council to the Sierra Club may be dancing in the streets, having delayed and possibly stopped yet another project that would put men and women back to work. While they celebrate, pipeline workers will continue to lose their homes and livelihoods. We had hoped the decision would have been made on the basis of economics, facts and the best interests of the nation, not on the basis of a political calculation." Terry O'Sullivan, General President, Laborers International Union of North America.

"The State Department's unprecedented decision to backtrack its own conclusions contained in the Final Environmental Impact Statement suggests a troubling political calculus, which ignores the merits of the project. With the authority to create approximately 20,000 construction and other jobs with the stroke of a pen, at a time with the unemployment rate in construction is the highest of any sector, the administration missed a major opportunity to employ members of the IUOE and other unions. Because of the unique authority your administration possessed to create jobs almost immediately, without congressional action or a dime of public investment, this decision will reverberate throughout the membership of the Operating Engineers."--Vincent Giblin, President, International Union of Operating Engineers.

"The president's decision to wait until the 11th hour only gives credibility to the argument that his decision was one of political expediency, rather than a decision based on facts and the national interest. Approval of this project by the administration would have been a lifeline for thousands of American workers. This delay may mean that the project will not go forward and thousands of jobs will be lost in the U.S. construction industry which continues to suffer unemployment rates approaching twice the national average." Mark Ayers, President, AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department.

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