Eastern terminus will be in Illinois: Where does Quinn stand on Keystone pipeline?

Sign of the times in Illinois

On Tuesday Illinois' hapless governor, Pat Quinn, returns from a trip to Japan where he and other Midwestern governors discussed bringing jobs to their respective states.

But there is a jobs project that Quinn should be shouting from the dome of the recently and expensively renovated state Capitol--the Keystone XL pipeline, which will bring petroleum from Canadian oil sand fields to the United States. Thousands of high-paying jobs will be created--perhaps tens-of-thousands of them.

Some of those jobs will be in Illinois--the eastern terminus of the proposed pipeline will be in downstate Marion County. Much of that pipeline is already in place--and existing refineries in Wood River and Patoka will refine Keystone oil.

Illinois' unemployment rate is 9.2 percent, the second-highest in the nation.

Like his fellow Democrat who is up for reelection next year, Sen. Dick Durbin, Quinn has been largely silent about Keystone. More oil means more gasoline--and gas is selling for $4-a-gallon in Chicago.

So where do you stand, Quinn? Are you for Keystone and creating Illinois jobs?

Voters need to know.

Related post:

Eastern terminus will be in Illinois: Where does Durbin stand on Keystone pipeline?

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