Perry Bashes Keystone XL Pipeline Delay

In the pages of the Wall Street Journal, Governor Rick Perry says Texans are “baffled” by President Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.

“Keystone would have provided a shot in the arm for our nation's uncertain economy, and it could have provided economic opportunity for tens of thousands of families, stretching from here in Texas all the way to the Canadian border,” Perry wrote in his op-ed in the Journal. He said the pipeline’s approval could create “up to 20,000 direct jobs,” a figure that has been questioned by Cornell University's Global Labor Institute. (A U.S. State Department estimate foresees approximately 5,000-6,000 construction jobs created by the pipeline.)

“Hoping to appease environmental radicals, President Obama said no, claiming he didn't have time to adequately consider the pipeline,” Perry continues.

Approval for the Keystone XL pipeline, built to channel oil sands from Canada to ports in the Gulf of Mexico, was rejected last month. KUT’s reporting partner StateImpact Texas noted at the time that the reason for the rejection – the pipeline’s route through Nebraska – was already being reworked by pipeline builder TransCanada, meaning although the project has been set back, it’s not exactly dead.