WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), a senior member of the Environment and Public Works and Foreign Relations committees, decried passage today of S. 1, a bill that would override the regulatory process and approve an extension of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline. S. 1 was deemed the highest priority by the new Republican Senate majority.

“We should never allow politics to supersede the rule of law, science and the health and safety of our communities. This bill is about giving a competitive advantage for the shipping of the world’s dirtiest oil from Canada through the United States for a long-term advantage of three-dozen American jobs. Quality American jobs are being created in the oil industry and clean energy sectors without the ‘Northern Leg’ of the Keystone XL. The risk is simply not worth the reward.  

“Now that we have wasted the first month of this new Congress on a measure that will never become law, let’s set it aside, and begin to work together on an energy policy that makes sense for America today and in the long-term; invests in clean energy that will help our economy grow; furthers our energy security; and is friendly to our environment and public health.”

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