In numerous blogs, op.eds and press stories since January 2012 I have continuously made the small business argument against the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Busting the bubble of the Keystone XL Pipeline bullcrap (blog)
Keystone XL Pipeline: Canadian big oil companies get the profits and America gets the pollution. (blog) Keystone XL a threat to South Carolina coastal tourism (The Hill)
Found—the thousands of new jobs promised from Keystone XL pipeline (blog)
Group says Keystone pipeline benefits are embellished (The Washington Times)
Keystone XL Pipeline: A Big Oil Boondoggle (press release)
Kestone XL Pipeline vote Tuesday. Start stocking up on bottled water along the route (blog)
Small business’ hope for the State of the Union: A remedy for uncertainty (The Washington Post)
Yesterday, President Obama rejected the permit TransCanada needed to bring the dirty, carbon laden tar sands oil into the U.S. destined for refining along our Gulf before being exported to other countries.
Here is my quote from the American Sustainable Business Council press release. I serve as co-chair of the organization. The entire press release is below.
“President Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline is a victory for the tourism industry,” said Frank Knapp, Jr., President & CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. “Anything that accelerates carbon pollution like the burning of dirty tar sand oil increases global warming and the threat of sea level rise along our coast. Preserving tens of thousands of South Carolina small business tourism jobs at the cost of not creating 50 permanent Keystone XL Pipeline jobs is a great business decision,” he said.
Congratulations to President Obama for the decision to put the best interest of South Carolina jobs and the earth’s environment before the interests of a private, Canadian oil company.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 6, 2015
Contact: Bob Keener, 617-610-6766, bkeener@asbcouncil.org
Businesses Say Keystone Rejection will Benefit the Economy
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama rejected the application to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline project would have allowed tar sands oil, a fuel many times more carbon-intensive than typical crude oil, to be transported from Canada to refining facilities in the Gulf region of the United States, across six states and the Missouri, Yellowstone, and Red Rivers. More than 1,000 business owners and executives from across the country signed a letter to the Administration opposing the pipeline.
“Today’s decision is a victory for the local economies and businesses this pipeline would have put at risk,” said David Levine, CEO and co-founder of ASBC. “We believe that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline was never economically viable. The market would not bear the true cost of the pipeline without the government and taxpayers assuming the risks. And since the financial costs could include damage from possible spills, land despoliation, water clean-up, medical costs, carbon emissions, and more, the potential risks were simply too high.”
The following statements are from business leaders who are members in the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC):
“Businesses increasingly understand the need for strong US leadership to create a clean energy economy. President’s Obama’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline once and for all is an important step toward our clean energy future,” said Fran Teplitz, Executive Co-Director, Green America. “The United States should be deeply cutting our fossil fuel emissions and ramping up our production of clean energy technology. The Keystone XL pipeline would have furthered the fossil fuel economy that is destroying human and environmental health and delaying our transition to renewable energy,” she said.
“Jobs in green energy already surpass total employment in Canadian oil sands. Bloomberg is projecting that the zero-emission energy sources could be up to 60% of the global energy capacity added in the next 25 years,” said Julie Gorte, Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing at Pax World Management LLC. “Meanwhile, the bear market for oil continues. Renewables are the future. The Keystone XL Pipeline is an idea that doesn’t belong in that future,” she said.
The jobs put at risk by climate change are far more than the construction jobs planned for the pipeline extension.
“President Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline is a victory for the tourism industry,” said Frank Knapp, Jr., President & CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. “Anything that accelerates carbon pollution like the burning of dirty tar sand oil increases global warming and the threat of sea level rise along our coast. Preserving tens of thousands of South Carolina small business tourism jobs at the cost of not creating 50 permanent Keystone XL Pipeline jobs is a great business decision,” he said.
The American Sustainable Business Council www.asbcouncil.org advocates for policy change and informs business owners and the public about the need and opportunities for building a vibrant, sustainable economy. Through its national member network it represents more than 200,000 businesses and more than 325,000 entrepreneurs, executives, managers and investors.
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