WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., on Tuesday slammed President Barack Obama after he vetoed the bill to build the 1,179-mile Keystone XL pipeline.
After the president vetoed the legislation just hours after it was sent to the White House, Gardner said Obama “ignored the will of the American people.”
“The President’s decision to veto this legislation is incredibly disappointing,” Gardner said in a statement. “Members of both parties in both houses of Congress came together to support this bill because it was the right thing to do. The President chose politics over practicality and liberal donors over American jobs.
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., backs the pipeline, but called the measure a distraction from addressing energy issues.
“Senator Bennet has voted in favor of the project in the past, and he’ll do so again,” Adam Bozzi, a spokesman for Bennet said. “However, he still would prefer that this was part of a broader and more comprehensive strategy to reduce carbon pollution and support renewable energy.”
For example, Bozzi said Bennet supports the president’s Clean Power Plan, which sets standards for carbon pollution from power plants, as a way to make significant reductions in the nation’s climate output.
The senators also said the State Department found that the pipeline, which would transport about 800,000 barrels of oil from Alberta to Texas, would have a minimal impact on carbon emissions.
Bozzi said the point was reiterated by former officials from the Obama administration.
“If we don’t accept the science about these emissions figures, then we lose credibility when we use the same science to argue for action on climate change.”
Republicans also have played up a State Department report that found that construction of the pipeline would create 42,000 jobs.
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
