GOP urges Obama to OK pipeline permits

WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) —
Republicans called on President Obama Saturday to approve work on the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, a project they called a “no brainer.”

Delivering the GOP’s weekly media address, Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., said the long-delayed pipeline would lower U.S. energy costs, create jobs and boost the economy, The Hill reported.

He said beginning work on the pipeline, that would move oil recovered from tar sands in Canada to refineries in the southern United States, was a “no-brainer” because it had already passed several environmental reviews and had support from “a broad, grassroots coalition of unions and employers.”

Polls say 70 percent of U.S. residents support the pipeline, Terry said.

A permit to build the northern leg of the pipeline was rejected by the administration in January 2012. An alternative route has yet to be decided, but the president moved in March 2013 to fast-track the southern section that runs from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico, CNN reported.

Terry said the initial permits for the pipeline were filed more than 1,600 days ago, noting World War II lasted slightly longer than 1,300 days.

He claimed some 20,000 people would be employed in new jobs in building the pipeline, with another 118,000 jobs created indirectly, ABC News Radio reported.