Dem Senator: Obama’s Keystone Veto an Attempt to Stop Canada from Producing Tar Sands Oil

https://youtube.com/watch?v=s99EAkFcINQ

West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin slammed President Obama’s Tuesday decision to veto a bill green-lighting the Keystone XL Pipeline, claiming the move wasn’t actually about the pipeline at all but an attempt to stop petroleum development in the Canadian tar sands.

The vetoed bill — which was co-sponsored by Manchin — would’ve allowed construction on the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline to continue despite continued stalling by the Obama administration over the international venture.

“How many times have you seen us do something bipartisan?” Manchin said on Fox News’ Cavuto, noting that nine Democrats voted for the bill.

“The Canadians agreed on everything we ask for,” the senator continued, explaining how the nation agreed to use American-made steel and keep all oil that flowed through the pipeline in the U.S. domestic market.

He also lamented the lost construction jobs and the safety concerns with transporting oil by rail. “I just can’t figure [the veto] out, I really can’t,” he said.

Cavuto suggested that perhaps the president “just hates fossil fuel, period — whether it’s traveling by train or in a pipeline, he just doesn’t like it.”

Manchin agreed. “This wasn’t about the pipeline,” he said. “It was basically trying to stop Canada from producing it. Canada’s a sovereign country. Canada has the right to do what they think’s best.”

Environmentalists claim that the burning of tar sands oil is particularly detrimental to the environment. But the West Virginia lawmaker said the fossil fuels will be burned regardless of the pipeline’s construction.

“They’re going to produce this oil,” the senator said, claiming the choice is only whether the U.S. is able to exercise control over its distribution and benefit from its domestic sale.