“We are disappointed that the State Department has chosen to favor corporate oil interests over the mountain of evidence that tar sands pose a severe environmental risk. The final decision on Keystone XL rests with the President, and he must now decide whether this pipeline from Canada to international oil markets is in the national interests of the United States.
“The five years of delay before today’s report by the U.S. State Department on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline indicates how deeply troubling this proposal is for our national interests.
“Here in Maine we have been up against the massive financial and political might of the tar sands industry, which hopes to send tar sands through our state and across our pristine rivers and lakes.
“The final decision on Keystone XL has major implications for Maine, even beyond the battle over a tar sands pipeline across our lakes region, along Sebago Lake to Casco Bay. Tar sands oil is a climate-destroying energy source, emitting roughly 20% more global warming pollution than conventional oil. That’s bad news for states like Maine that have so much to lose from rising sea levels, increased disease, damage from storms and flooding, and so many impacts to our economy – from fisheries to forestry to tourism.
“This is especially troubling because some of gasoline derived from tar sands at Gulf Coast refineries would likely end up in our fuel supply in the Northeast. According to an NRDC report released this month, Maine and the Northeast today get virtually no gasoline or heating oil from tar sands sources. But if we do nothing to stop it, we will see much more tar sands-derived fuel here at home—up to 18% of our fuels by 2020 if Keystone XL is approved. If the President approves Keystone XL, it will significantly increase the carbon pollution coming from fuel used in Maine and the Northeast, rolling back on our hard-earned progress in reducing climate-changing pollution, and making our goals all the harder to reach.
“Neither Maine nor the rest of the country can afford to see Keystone XL approved if we value the health of the environment we leave for our children and grandchildren.”
