This week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a vote on the long-debated Keystone XL pipeline. Expected to easily pass the committee, the bill faces a less certain future in the full Senate – not unlike the pipeline’s prospects at large.
Even if symbolic, the committee’s vote is a reminder of how political infighting results in poor policy decisions. The prolonged delay over a legitimate private infrastructure project is costing the nation jobs and billions in lost economic activity, not to mention damaging ties with Canada, our largest trading partner.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, Canadian Resources Minister Greg Rickford stated the delay in approving Keystone “is an affront in no uncertain terms. It’s inconsistent with the principles that have helped our relationship at least economically evolve, and in that sense it’s quite disruptive.”
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