Tagged: keystone xl pipeline

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.

Legislation cracking down on insider trading by members of Congress hasn’t landed on the floor of the U.S. House yet, but it’s already become a political football in Congressional District 10.

That’s because the Democrat who wants that seat, international affairs consultant Dan Grant, is alleging that incumbent Rep.Michael McCaul, R-Austin, is benefiting from lax ethics rules for U.S. representatives and senators — rules the pending U.S. STOCK Act would help strengthen.

McCaul says his opponent is flat wrong.

At the heart of the dispute is the McCaul family’s private interest in the company pushing the Keystone XL Pipeline — and the congressman’s public advocacy for the project as a member of Congress. McCaul, believed to be the second-wealthiest member of Congress, reported that his family owned $115,000 to $300,000 in TransCanada Corporation stock as of 2010, the latest year available, according to ethics filings compiled online by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Governor Rick Perry Drops out of GOP race

Texas Governor Rick Perry is dropping out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination, sources are telling the New York Times and CNN.

Perry has a news conference scheduled for 10 o’clock this morning in South Carolina, where he’s expected to make a formal announcement.

The Associated Press reports he will endorse former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Approval for the Keystone XL pipeline – a controversial 1,700 mile pipeline designed to transport oil sands from Canada all the way to Texas ports along the Gulf of Mexico – is expected to be rejected today by the Obama Administration, according to a report from The Washington Post.

StateImpact Texas notes the announcement comes just a few weeks before the Obama administration would have been forced to make a decision on the proposal.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce took aim at the Obama administration this morning, with a call for the president to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would end at the Texas Gulf Coast.

Chamber president and CEO Thomas J. Donohue claimed in his annual “State of American Business” address that “This project has passed every environmental test. There is no legitimate reason—none at all—to subject it to further delay.”

But the National Resources Defense Council says the Chamber is waging a “disinformation campaign” on the pipeline’s behalf.

Protestors gathered in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Austin this afternoon to denounce a deal struck in Congress that would extend a payroll tax cut by two months in exchange for a measure to speed up a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline. The transcontinental pipeline would transport oil from Alberta, Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast.  

One of the major sticking points between the House and the Senate as they face off over end-of-year legislation is the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The bill the House passed Tuesday contains a provision forcing President Obama to decide on the pipeline within 60 days.

Republicans say this project should move ahead quickly because it will create thousands of jobs. But just how many jobs would be created is a matter of contention.