Posted on Thu, Nov 17, 2011 @ 03:45 PM
The United States has been offered a great opportunity which could help solve its dependence on overseas oil. A proposal for a new pipeline is awaiting U.S. approval. The Keystone XL Pipeline would bring a dependable source of crude oil from Canada. Canada has announced its plans to go on without the U.S. in building the 1,700 mile pipeline and has expressed interest in selling more oil to Asia. President Obama is being pressured to approve the proposal because of the economic benefits it would potentially bring to the United States.
An estimated one million new jobs (twenty-thousand of them being construction) could be created in the next seven years, along with $127 billion in government revenue (without raising taxes). The Obama Administration does not want to be forced into the matter of the pipeline because its route is still considered controversial. The Administration has proposed a more environmentally friendly route instead, because even though the economic impact will be add certain boost for the U.S., environmental concerns should not be sacrificed in order to hurry the project along.
The environmentally sensitive areas in question are located in Nebraska and these concerns have caused the decision on Keystone XL to be delayed. President Obama and the U.S. Department of State are to make a final decision about the pipeline by the end of this year.
Canada has been talking with Asian nations about joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Trans-Pacific is a trade agreement being negotiated by the U.S. and eight other countries, including Malaysia and Vietnam. Canada does want the U.S. to approve the proposal as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper indicated. Harper said that while he is “disappointed,” he remains optimistic that the project will proceed “because it makes eminent sense.”