“The White House and opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline project have exhausted all arguments.”

The Keystone Pipeline XL project has been sitting in limbo for five years as President Obama has continued to defer making a decision, and instead has issued continuing calls for repetitive environmental impact statements which test the likely effects of the pipeline on carbon emissions.

The U.S. State Department has already declared that the pipeline would result in no �??substantial change in global greenhouse gas emissions.�?� North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said “the White House and opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline project have exhausted all arguments.” Now, As the State Dept. reviews the Presidential Permit application, more than twenty attorneys general from across the nation are joining forces to put pressure on Secretary of State John Kerry to �??recommend issuance of a permit�?� for the expansion of the Keystone Pipeline project, which the AGs say will �??bolster the nation�??s economy, modernize the country�??s energy infrastructure, and strengthen our national security.�?�

The petition urges John Kerry “to recommend approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project�?� for the following reasons:

– The United States�?? dependence on countries which are politically unstable strengthens regimes which may or do have anti-American agendas.

– The U.S. is years away from ending its utilization of nonrenewable resources.

– Canada, a long-term ally, has vast oil reserves in Alberta and no sufficient pipeline capacity to carry crude oil to American refineries.

– Increasing pipeline capacity would reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports from suppliers which are outside of North America, and those which are inherently unstable and threaten U.S. security.

– The granting of the Keystone permit would create �??untold long-term employment and constitute an immediate boost to the American economy by opening thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs.�?�

The letter was sent to Kerry on August 9 by the Attorneys General of North Dakota, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Virginia. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange became the latest AG to join in pressuring Kerry, having signed the petition yesterday.