Via Katie Boyd on February 24, 2012
Two new surveys out this week show that – with gas prices rising higher and faster than ever – Americans continue to overwhelmingly support the Keystone XL pipeline President Obama rejected last month. The Keystone pipeline would not only create 20,000 new American jobs, but would bring an additional 830,000 barrels of oil per day to U.S. refineries. With gas prices threatening the already-struggling economic recovery and making it harder to create jobs, Americans’ support for the Keystone pipeline is as strong as ever:
- According to a Pew Research Center survey released today, 66% of Americans “say the government should approve the pipeline, while just 23% say it should not.”
- A Quinnipiac survey released earlier this week found that voters support the Keystone pipeline by a margin of 64-23 percent.
In an effort to “deflect blame” for surging gas prices, President Obama is falsely claiming credit for an increase in American energy production that has occurred despite his harmful policies, not because of them. In fact, gas prices have doubled on President Obama’s watch because he has chosen – time and again – to thwart more American energy while steering taxpayer dollars to failed enterprises, like Solyndra, that he deemed worthwhile. Now Americans are paying for the president’s disastrous policies every time they fill up.
President Obama is out of excuses when it comes to blocking the Keystone pipeline and the thousands of jobs that come with it. The pipeline is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans, as well as labor unions, governors, and even members of the president’s own party. The House has passed bipartisan legislation requiring the project to move forward - just one of several steps House Republicans have taken under the American Energy Initiative to help address rising gas prices. It is time for President Obama to stop putting politics ahead of struggling families and small businesses and approve the Keystone XL pipeline.
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