xl and keystone pipeline. these are the 57 items highlighted by our council earlier because we all want to make sure this pipeline is built to the highest standards and there are requirements that they do that, they monitor that. when you start reading through this, maybe everybody could, it talks about stealth quality control assurance, fracture control, pipe steam quality control requirements, monitoring for seam fatigue from transportation, punk tour resistance. for instance, steel pipe must be punk tour resistant to an excavator weighing two tons with general purpose 3.5 by 0.137 inches. there's pipe coating, field coating, coating for field installation, bend quality. keystone must retain certification records, factory induction bends and factory weld bends, all must have carbon equivalents to below certain standards. pipeline design factor, a temperature control, over pressure protection control, plans and schedule. then they get into depth of cover. we have this discussion because involving the farmer k

the keystone prongt include e-- comprised 270 acres. temporary rights of way for construction purposes would make up a few hundred additional acres on blm, tracts of land, these applications have not been withdrawn but the processing is on hold. the north american access act appears to make the federal energy regulatory commission the sole federal agency for the project. the bill would give the commission a permit for the pipeline and related facilities. it's not clear how the maintenance is carried out on the tfederal lands. this departure would keep blm from collecting rents. thank you for the opportunity to testify before the sub committee. i'm open to any questions. >> i recognize myself for five minutes of questions. there has been a lot of discussion on the keystone pipeline about the coke brothers. and the coke brothers have indicated that they have no financial, direct final interest in this pipeline. and for that reason we have never really called them as a witness and i might say that we know that the burlington, northern sant

in terms of the conditions for keystone xcel and keystone pipeline, these are the 57 items that were highlighted by our counsel earlier, and i think it's important because we all want to make sure this pipeline is built to the highest standards and that there are a requirement that they do that, and that they monitor that. and so when you start reading through this, and maybe everybody could, it talks about play coiloccurrence, pipe quality control requirements, monitoring for extreme fatigue in transportation. steel pipe must be puncture resistant to an excavator weighing 65 tons for a general purpose of 2.54 inches by 1.73 inches. there is a pipe coating, field coating, coatings for trench installation, bend quality. keystone must obtain and retain certification records of factory induction bins and factory we would -- weld bins. they must react to a certain standard. temperature control, overprotection temperature control, construction plans and schedule, and then they get into depth of cover. we had this discussion because of the issue involving the farmer. keystone shall constru

on october 15th, 2010, secretary of state clinton said she was inclined to approve keystone -- the keystone pipeline permit. on october 31st, 2011, white house press secretary jay carney stated the fact is that this is a decision that will be made by the state department. and the very next day president obama said the decision would rest with him. but in the president's announcement last week to reject the pipeline's permit, he said he had accepted the state department's recommendation to do so. so my question would be, were you involved in the decision made at the state department and did you recommend to the president that he reject this permit? >> thank you, mr. chairman. the recommendation that went to the president was a state department recommendation. and it came from the state from my bureau and other bureaus. it came through the deputy and through the secretary to the president. >> so your bureau recommend the permit be denied? >> yes, sir. >> and what other bureaus at the state department was involved in that decision making? >> the other bureau involved is the bureau of economic

in association with the keystone xl pipeline be verified under nationwide acts. it was requested that permit 12 be suspended for dredge and fill materials associated with the keystone xl pipeline application, these decisions were made because of concerns identified by the department of state that could not be addressed until a final decision was made on the pending presidential permit application. the president has since

if it's the exact same product and we're transporting it through the keystone pipeline, this keystone xl allows for more, maybe 60% more transportation of the very same product through the very same type peep line that runs a little bit different route, goes to more refinery sites in the united states. helps us increase domestic production which we talk about over and over and over again. if this amendment were approved, and if you took it to its conclusion that you would just literally shut down the transportation of the crude to our sand oil through the existing keystone pipeline. with that i'll yield to mr. terry for his expertise, the gentleman from nebraska. >> thank you, mr. whitfield for yielding your time for the record. this is really, i believe, a red herring issue used as an excuse to kill the bypass line. that's the way the environmentalists have presented it, nlrdc. two reasons i think this is a red herring issue. number one, already stated but true. in fact, we discussed it at the hearing about how long that heavy crude with benjamin has been transported through pipeline

pipe mills that make the 36-inch diameter pipe used in the keystone pipeline. one is in baton rouge, louisiana, one is in panama city, florida, one is in birmingham, alabama and one is in mobile, alabama. and guess what? they all use u.s. steel in the pipe that they make. i'm just curious why none of these companies had a shot at some of this steel in the keystone pipeline, and my amendment very simply says let's certify this 75% claim or stop making claims that you can't back up with facts. and with that i yield back my time. >> the gentleman yield back. anyone over here wish to speak? the gentleman from alabama, mr. scalise. >> thank you. i think it's important to note that the jobs we're talking about being brought about by ski stone, if you look at this amendment, and i'm not sure if the gentleman was aware that all the pipe was already purchased, but under that amendment, they wouldn't be able to go forward with keystone because they already bought the steel. and, in fact, as we were told, half of the steel for the project was sourced from a u.s.-based mil

>> does keystone have any special rights or privileges not accorded to a domestic utility? >> no, in accordance with the state's law for the types of utilities. nothing special. >> and would their use of eminent domain have some special power that some city or county would not have? >> no. >> because they're foreign? >> no. >> is there anything because they have foreign ownership that gives them any privilege or right that is above that of a domestically based company? >> no. >> when other pipelines are constructed in the united states, did those companies use eminent domain? >> depending on the law of the state, it would depend on the law of the state. some states have that tool. other states don't. it's a state by state decision. >> it's a state by state decision. and would -- in this case, would transcanada have to abide by state law when it comes to eminent domain? >> yes. >> so they would have to live by whatever the state law is relative to eminent domain? >> that's correct. >> and when these pipelines are laid in this case my understanding is that it will be fairly d

pipeline, we're going to look for ways to build the keystone pipeline. this is a project that would cost about $7 billion to build. there would not be any government money involved in this project. it is all being supplied by private industry, and it would immediately put at least 20,000 people to work. that certainly sounds like the national interest to me. if our president decides that sending three aircraft carrier strike groups to the strait of hormuz to defend the free flow of oil, if he thinks that's in the national interest, and one would also think a pipeline from canada that would help us be less dependent on middle eastern oil would also serve the national interest. the president's own state department determined that the pipeline would have no significant impact on the environment. the president said it himself. his rejection of the keystone pipeline is not based on its merits. he said that. which makes us believe that the decision to reject the pipeline was solely a political decision to help him be re-elected. at this time i would like to yi

keystone will set competitive in oil back 20 years. now dubai is an emirate surrounded by the world's largest oil fieldsment they're economy is 250 times smaller than ours. yet they are a a. substitute enough to see the consequences of an oil dependent economy and are willing to invest now with renewable energy in a big way. why aren't we? and because we're not fully committed to developing you are newable energy capabilities, our soldiers in arm's way are operationally vulnerable, too. serving for 15 months in iraq, i struggled with the challenge of providing three million gallons of oil every day to sustain our forces. i saw the huge impact of not having any renewable energy systems and being completely dependent upon oil based power generation. in consideration with the fully burning could the of fuel and the combat zone, taxpayers are spending well over $30 billion annually for our fuel needs. and now that pakistan cut off our access to afghanistan, it will be even higher this year. the dollar cost doesn't concern me near as much a

that is why we have heard so much about solyndra and keystone. the more significant issues that have to do with all our energy future are getting short shrift. as the debate goes on as we approach the election campaign, we will have some serious discussion about what we should be doing with regard to alternative energy, what we should be doing with regard to some of these things. there is a major difference of opinion. the public not been made sufficiently aware of it. >> what do you think president obama should outline as an energy policy in his second term? >> he has outlined the major parts of an energy policy in his first term. he has been trying to make progress in the continuing to emphasize production. he is putting more effort in developing alternative sources of energy so we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. i assume he will have that as his platform going forward. >> do you think he needs to be more specific? >> he has been specific on a lot of that. the budget we see will be specific on how much money he is proposing that we spend.

after the break republicans are trying to stick the keystone x.l. pipeline project into crucial transportation legislation how did americans decide to stand up to this latest hostage taking and can we kill the keystone pipeline for good. any match. to. ever. turtles are is going to be. simple. do we only want to see this on forever. russia's foreign minister has said the risk of repeating a lib installed scenarios as foreign intervention in syria also tolson the ones that the west as a side regime that could be used to join to justify military on. top in the euro crisis as the eurozone achieves says assurances assume a way to the greek finance committee does and how they had to implement in a station program to respond via hold one hundred. dollars to save the country from to hold responses in these raising of agency downgrades and even stay. on as russia's new true predicts the west m i decide on a strike against the country with. these photos because asians that the islamic state was behind in monday's stronger state senator says the. losses in bo

i'm for keystone. i'm from texas. you know that i still believe in fossil fuel. the question is, how much longer will we still require a reliable source of fossil fuel in this country? i understand that many of the studies that are published come from the oil companies. and they'll tell you that we're going to have domestic dependence for some years to come and globally even for a longer period of time. i share your fear that my support of keystone might simply expand the duration of the time that we may be still dependent. my position is we will be importing because we need it. and i'd rather get it from canada and mexico than anyone else for national security purposes. but that does not mean that we should not continue to aggressively view efficiency and conservation, renewables and alternatives. so i agree with you. there has to be a healthy balance to be able to to my colleagues on the other side of the fence. the problem is that you truly just have almost 100% dedication to fossil fuels. as much as i understand it, they have to be part of the fix. i'm going

keystone is now in its 40th month. so when these additional delays appear to be mounting early in 2011, the u.s. house passed bipartisan legislation with 47 democrats voting yes that simply instructed president obama to make a final decision one way or the other on the presidential permit by november 1, 2011. at the time the white house stated the legislation was unnecessary because the state department would be making a decision by the end of 2011. but as president obama's campaign began to warm up for president, the president's political advisers realized that the environmental groups would be quite upset if president said yes to this pipeline. on the other hand, the labor unions were going to be quite upset -- at least five or six of them -- if president said no to the pipeline. so at that time the president instead of making a decision said that he would wait until after the election to make a decision. so from our perspective this really was nothing but a political decision. and since we've had 40 month of detaile

all they have to do is say yes. >> the argument on keystone -- >> keystone was approved twice in a three-yeard. white house stepped in with the state department and declined it. this is easy as a clean argument for the republicans to make. >> of all the decisions i think if you see unemployment continuing to drop through june and august and october, they won't remember fast and furious and solyndra and keystone the way you think they are. >> john: hold it there for a minute. we'll be back in a minute with more. next up, the 2012 election campaign and how michigan is turning in to a crucial test for native son mitt romney. don't go away. we'll be right back. >>> romney super pac spent $20 million attacking fellow republicans. why? romney is trying to hide from his big government romney care and his support for job-killing cap and trade. it's going to backfire. >> that is the nature of politics that you accuse the other guys of what you have done yourself. my campaign hasn't run negative ads against rick santorum. >> give him points for creativity. >> john: let's talk about michigan. an importa

so when these refineries reexport the diesel and other fuels, they are maging using keystone oil they won't even have to pay united states taxes. hear that again. they will not have to pay united states taxes. left anyone think that trans america -- transcanada, rather, isn't in the reexport business. in december when i asked the president of transcanada whether he would agree to insure that the oil and refined fuels stay here in this country instead of reexporting them he said, no. sitting right at that table. so that's the plan in this republican bill. sneak the pipeline into the country, refine the oil and then sneak the diesel fuel right back out of the country. yesterday the gentleman from nebraska said that tar sands oil could replace a million and a half or two mill dwrn baion bar oil a day. even if the keystone xl pipeline was going to transport more than 630,000 barrels of tar sands oil each day, the doe estimates it will transport the idea that all of the keystone oil will stay in this country under this bill is just a fantasy. make no mistake. this bill is not about energy

the keystone x.l. pipeline will create more than 20,000 american jobs and displace less stable energy imports with millions of barrels of safe and secure north american oil. since this president took office, mr. chairman, gasoline prices have climbed by 91%. meanwhile, iran is threatening to close off the straight of hormuz which is responsible for transportation -- strait of hormuz which is responsible for transportation of 17 million barrels of oil today or 20% ever all oil traded. price also own climb higher if we don't take action now to increase our energy independence and develop our own energy resources. today, mr. chairman, republicans are moving forward with a plan to create more jobs and create more american energy. with that, mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from washington reserves his time. the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. markey, is recognized. mr. markey: i thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gent

thank you very much tom dick your use of the keystone x.l. pipeline being attached to it this transportation bill being jammed through congress by republicans is frankly a terrible piece of legislation one that if enact it will take america backwards not forwards for example it's called house resolution seventy seven the house version of it and at its heart it's just profoundly flawed with bad ideas and shoddy pricing the bill is costing two hundred sixty billion dollars that's a nine percent cut from the last transportation spending package we're cutting money for transportation seventy five thousand bridges in america right now are structurally deficient like the one in minnesota that fell down and killed thirty some odd people transportation secretary ray la hood who as i recall was a republican has labeled this the most partisan and worst transportation bill that he's ever seen here's why there's a twenty five percent cut in subsidies for amtrak the republican have always tried to destroy am track but ridership on amtrak is growing so why

all they have to do is say yes. >> the argument on keystone -- >> keystone was approved twice in a three-yearte house stepped in with the state department and declined it. this is easy as a clean argument for the republicans to make. >> of all the decisions i think if you see unemployment continuing to drop through june and august and october, they won't remember fast and furious and solyndra and keystone the way you think they are. >> john: hold it there for a minute. we'll be back in a minute with more. next up, the 2012 election campaign and how michigan is turning in to a crucial test for native son mitt romney. don't go away. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8. is non-stop to seattle? just carry preparation h totables. discreet, little tubes packed with big relief. from the brand doctors recommend most by name. preparation h totables. the anywhere preparation h. >>> romney super pac spent $20 million at

even if the keystone xl pipeline was going to export 36,000 barrels a day, the idea that all of the keystone oil will stay in this country under this bill is just a fantasy. make no mistake, this bill is not about energy security, it is not about jobs, it is oil company profits, plain and simple. this bill just turns the united states into a middle man in a multinational oil deal between canada, south america, europe and china. the republican slogan last year was drill here, drill now, pay less. now we're letting canada drill there, ship here and re-export there. all so we -- so that we in the united states will have to pay more, both in terms of money at the gas pump and cost to the environment. my amendment ensures if this pipeline is legislate lated the oil and any fuels made using it will stay here to benefit americans here who will pay less here. my amendment

the keystone x.l. pipeline and the desperately needed jobs it promises. if he keeps dragging his feet, he'll hand the chinese one more competitive advantage over the united states. "detroit news," january 20. a couple of weeks ago. i know the gentleman from texas, mr. olson, has been very involved in the energy and commerce committee, he's been standing up for his state, nrnl security, jobs that would be created. i'm -- i'm sure you knew this already but in texas alone, the development of the alberta oil sands could be -- could create over 1,000 jobs over the next few years. with that, i yield to mr. olson. mr. olson: i thank my colleague from colorado and my brother on the energy and commerce committee. they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, i've got the same chart you have. and i want to focus my discussion tonight on national security. i want to make sure that the american public understands the truth. there's been many, many, many misstatements from the administration about the

let's not make americans think we're somehow energy independent because of the keystone pipeline. when gasoline prices go up, let's not delude americans if the keystone pipeline would have fast tracked that their gasoline prices wouldn't have gone up. the two have nothing to do with each other. if we're saying that something has 75% of north american steel in that, we're able to certify that's so. so there's a lot of good reasons to be for this pipeline once it's approved and go through the process the right way. the markey amendment because i believe it's more an illustration of let's have truth in this debate than what what we'd actually do is detrimental. i think we ought to give the american people true expectations and not send this as a cure all/end all to all the problems in the united states. i would yield the amount of time to any of the colleagues who might want to take advantage of a minute and 30 seconds. mr. markey? >> gentleman yields back his time. it's acceptable under the rules to yield back. >> and i will if nobody on my side wants the time. thank you. >> the gen

doesn't just want to shut down keystone.oal discovered recently talking to the executive director is much bigger. it's part of a broader effort to stop the expansion of tarzan. it's based on choking off the ability to find markets for the tar sands oil. the writer in "the new york times" goes on to say this is a ludicrous goal. if it were to succeed would be damaging to the national interest of both canada and the u.s. and it has no chance of succeeding. energy is the single most important industry in china. three-quarters of the canadians agree with the harbor state for suffocation strategy. china's first for oil will hardly be deterred. there's at least one country in north america that understands where the national the interest lies. too bad it's not the united states of america. so for the national interest is for the interest of our workers and last the interest of truth. i asked both sides of the aisle to support this project and yelled back. >> would you yield the last 40 seconds? >> just to remind people when you sp

that's really what the heart of the amendment is for the keystone excel pipeline. under the amendment, construction of the pipeline could begin but not until we know the standards that are in place of safe transportation of diluted sidaman. i think the study is important for the american people, which i raised earlier, and i think the approach makes sense because it's far less costly to build pipelines correctly than it is to try to fix or replace a line that's already built, and i think another very important consideration is the following, and that is that if a recent oil spill had occurred, particularly the spill from transcanada's keystone pipeline which have leaked 21,000 gallons of crude in north dakota are a warning to all of us that we need to get this right. for these reasons, mr. chairman, i offer my amendment, and ask my colleagues to support it. and i yield back. >> you yielded back? >> i did. >> are there other members wishing to speak on the amendment? if not, let me yield myself of five minutes. the gentlelady is correct. i supported her amendment. w

this the first of two meetings on keystone xl pipe hein taking place today. the senate finance committee meeting this afternoon at 3:00. they will be discussing the same issue. right now, though, we're going to take you back to testimony from earlier today in this house, energy and commerce committee. this began at 9:00 this morning. >> committee will come to order. at the conclusion of openings statement call up hr 3538, north american energy access act. i would note because of the conference committee on the payroll tax expense, i want to thank members for getting here to start this morning. we're intending to stop temporarily at 10:00. and resume, it's my understanding, our understanding, that the conference is going to meet from 10:00 until noon. we will then come back at noon here and work until it's done. we expect votes will occur at 1:30, so we'll maneuver around that. so anyway, the chair would recognize mr. terry for the purposes of offering an amendment in the nature of a substitute. >> mr. chairman, i appreciate you bringing up the amendment and t

i believe keystone will set back the alternative energy in this country 20 years. two weeks ago i read that dubai will invest $2.7 billion in solar energy next year. dubai is surrounded by the world's largest oilfields. their economy is 250 times smaller than ours. yet they are an astute enough to see the consequences of an oil dependent economy and are willing to invest now in renewable energy in a big way. why aren't we? and because we're not fully committed to developing renewable energy capabilities, our soldiers in harm's way are operationally vulnerable, too. serving for 15 months as general petraeus senior legislation in iraq and i struggle with providing three main towns of fuel every day to sustain our force. i suck huge impact of not having any renewable energy systems and be completely dependent upon oil based power generations. in consideration of the fully burdened cost of fuel in a combat zone, taxpayers have been spending well over 30 billion annually for our fuel needs. that is what they be, billion. now that pakistan is cut off her access to pakist

keystone is now in its 40th month. wendy's additional delays appear to be mounting early in 2011, -- wendy's additional delays appear to be mounting early in 2011, they instructed president obama to make a final decision in one way or the other. he had until november 1, 2011. at the time, the white house stated the legislation was unnecessary because the state department would be making a decision by the end of 2011. president obama's campaign began to warm-up for the president, his a advisers realized that the environmental groups would be -- his advisers realized that the environmental groups would be upset if he said yes. the labor unions were going to be quite upset if the president said no to the pipeline. at that time, instead of making a decision, he said that he would wait until after the election to make a decision. from hours per -- perspective, this was nothing but a political decision. since we have had 40 months of detailed study and analysis on this, we felt like there was no reason to delay any more beca

the keystone x.l. pipeline. a pipeline that would come from our friends to the north in canada, where technology is a-- has allowed him to harvest the oil from the oil sands in alberta, and bring that crude oil down to refining capacity that we have here in this country. that's why the keystone x.l. pipeline was so crucial. not only would we be buying oil from a country that likes us, our largest and best trading partner in canada, but we would also be bringing oil to the refineries in the gulf states. the refineries in oklahoma, the refineries in mississippi, alabama, louisiana, and texas. that have the capacity, due to the policy of this administration creating a moratorium on expanded offshore drilling in the united states and the moratorium and poor policies that have kept us from harvesting american resources to meet american energy needs. i believe in american energy security and american energy independence and lessening our dependence on foreign sources of oil, lessening our dependence on middl

keystone is about 1% of that, about 1700 miles. it's my understanding the keystone excel pipeline would ship up to 100,000 barrels of oil today produced in north dakota and montana. we heard this morning about made-in-america energy. is it fair to say that the keystone pipeline would ifs sill tate oil production in the united states? >> well, first let me back off and say that, if you look at the oil pipelines in the united states, the u.s. government makes a decision on only those parts of the pipelines, and the state department makes the decision that goes across borders. within the united states, a lot of companies have the latitude. the pipelines that are taking the oil from wyoming north dakota down south to refineries are up and running. the biggest bottleneck in the united states apparently right now is from curbing to the golf states. the market is responding. new pipelines are being built. pipelines are being reversed so oil from wyoming -- another pipeline from chicago to kushing back to before the major refineries are. t

keystone is not an oil company, eight pipeline company. it does have oil companies that are partners in that aspect but the people who are mining the oil sands are marathon, shell, bp and china has a big interest. we sell a lot of coal in this country overseas to china and would i hate this to be a prelude to stopping that. >> your time has expired. the gentleman from texas, mr. allston, is recognized for five minutes. >> i thank the chair. this should come as no surprise but i speak in opposition to the markey amendment. being from texas i want to thank my colleague from massachusetts for his advice about voting against his amendment. it's real simple. when a domestic industry is it makes a product that the world demands and pays american workers to manufacture, this is a positive development. when an industry here in the united states manufactures a product in excess of what u.s. consumers demands and is able to export that product oversea, this is a positive development as well. an industry that is this successful is able to hire more a

after the break looks like the keystone x.l. pipeline is back. the republicans continue to use it as leverage in legislation to go shish and more on that and other topics coming up in tonight's big picture of the. let's not forget that we had an apartheid regime right here. i think rock bottom feeding on the well. whenever the government says they're going to keep you safe get ready because you know their freedom. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so. you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear sees some other part of it and realized everything you thought you don't know i'm tom parker is a big. fat . are you ready to rumble joining me for tonight's big picture rumble neil mckay mccabe excuse me columnist with human events richard a follower democratic strategist and advocacy director for the young democrats of america and tony katz host of the toady katz radio show on the all patriots radio network i hate radio guys i got us a little bit of ok headship gentlemen see pac is in town and beyond all the ove

commerce comed today approving legislation that would reverse the president's rejection of that keystone oil sands pipeline. the bill latest to the advance the alberta to texas pipeline. republicans trying to punish the president politically. there's a story about this at the hill.com, all of this ahead of the 2012 election. critical of the president for failing to green light the project that republicans say will create jobs and boost energy security. a number of amendments being put forth by democrats on the committee. ed markey, his amendment failed 14-37 that republicans claim would with curb account reliance on oil from unstable nations. also a proposal put forth by john dingell from michigan. his amendment using the same process that was used by previous administrations, again all of this part of the ongoing debate over the keystone xl pipeline. the senate is not scheduled to take up the measure. let's hear from congressman john dingell on his proposal. >> you will note, my dear friends and colleagues, that this amendment is going to utilize the procedures set forth by president ge

the more immediate question, with regard to the keystone xl pipeline, is, there is, the u.s. midcontinent is the principal market for oil sands going into the united states, and that u.s. midcontinent, the midwest, is nearing a saturation point for the oil sands. there's only so many refineries in the midwest u.s. there's only so much crude oil from canada they can take. so to expand the reach of canadian oil into the u.s., you need a palestine to the u.s. gulf coast, which is the largest, most sophisticated refining center in the world. in fact, it's been an important source of export growth for the u.s. but this denial does raise an uncertainty about whether that growth will continue, as previously thought. >> thank you. dr. gruenspecht, i would like to ask you about diesel prices. in my home state of wyoming this weekend win noticed that a gallon of diesel is about a dollar higher than regular unleaded gasoline. it's my understanding that this difference can be attributed in part to a shortage of diesel in the suggest the upper plains. i know a lot of diesel is being shipp

keystone is now in its 40th month. when the additional delays appeared to be mounting early in 2011, the house passed a bipartisan legislation with 47 democrats voting yes that instructed president obama to make a final decision one way or the other on the presidential permit by november 1, 2011. the white house staff to the legislation was not necessary because the state department would make a decision by the end of 2011. as president obama's campaign began to warm up, his political advisers realized the environmental groups would be upset if the president said yes to the pipeline. the labor unions were going to be quite upset if the president said no to the pipeline. instead of making a decision, the president said he would wait until after the election to make the decision. from our perspective, this was nothing but a political decision. we have had 40 months of detailed study and analysis on this. we felt like there was no reason to delay any more. we need to be less dependent on foreign oil. we can bring in this

. >> and keystone, canada is giving us the boot. and china is getting the-- that's money and speaking up in a fox business network poll. the results, they will stun you. [ male announcer ] you love the taste of 2% milk. but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromisen taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. >> hi, everyone, live from america's news headquarters, i'm jamie colby. there is a major test to the republican presidential race, decided today, it's in maine, where this'll announce a winner of the week long caucus. and mitt romney and ron paul are the only two candidates campaigning today in the states, romney hoping to bounce back from what may have been the worst stretch on the trail. rick santorum swept missouri, minnesota and colorado. you want to keep it here. and a video of the crackdown in syria. and killed four more people in the rebel city. and a strike against the assad regime. opposition

calling on their senators to oppose the house republicans attempts to resurrect the keystone pipeline this was the result of twenty four hours of online activism spearheaded by the website three fifty dot org in an effort to get a half million people to oppose the pipeline in a single day that goal was shattered proving the environmental movement is not only alive and well in america but can claim a few victories against big oil as well but as we know big oil doesn't take no for an answer and now teaming up with the right wing think tank the heartland institute big oil is trying to make sure they win every single environmental battle long into the future exactly or they're planning to do this by brainwashing american students for more on the story i'm joined by amanda beetle reporter at think progress dot org think we're going to hear from the center for american progress is blog great to have you with us again amanda what have you folks kept discovered about the heartland institute in this plan you broke the story well there have been these documents have come out and they've already

the keystone energy. pipeline was in a bill and then the president decided not to move forward with it but really it's been sort of a little wedge issue politically speaking why does this happen so often. because it's politics is the nature of politics it's the organization of hatred's so people are just saying you know the other side screwed up or this screwed up in this case i'm happy to see the president things a little bit on this i think it was a ridiculous cave and. he actually had his own coalition split there were some of his union backers wanted the keystone x.l. pipeline to go through a lot of people want to go through who are not just it's not just because they want to rape the environment or something it's because they recognize that these these energies keep people alive they allow more of us to stay alive and they allow more of us to travel and do all the things that would make us human finally tim we are and it's very clear here in washington i'm sure it is there as well in an election year

from reaching him before the election. >> what do we get out of the keystone pipeline?hing. >> congressman mark would require no product refined from keystone oil could be sold anywhere outside the u.s. >> there is no guarantee that even a drop of the tar sands oil and fuel will stay here in this country. >> well, there is stuff left over after the process that we can't even use in the united states that is commonly exported. >> they long exported products to europe, which he says creates more american jobs. another amendment would require the pipeline to use only u.s. steel. >> i was a little confused when i talked to my friends in the u.s. steel industry and they told me they weren't making the steel for this project. >> transcanada vies to buy 75% of the pipe from the u.s., but many of the material were brought years ago. >> it's already acquired all of the steel and iron it will use in the pipeline. >> for republicans, keystone is about jobs and energy. cutting edge issues in the election year, which is why they want to drop it in the president's lap, democrats desp