OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Saturday urged President Barack Obama to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline that would carry oil from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, in the Republican response to the president’s weekly radio address.
The U.S. House and Senate have approved completion of the pipeline and sent the bill to the president. However the White House has said it is awaiting a State Department review and Obama has threatened a veto.
Neither the House nor the Senate passed the bill by enough votes to override a veto.
Fallin said the project would create 42,000 jobs and noted that the southern portion of the project is already in operation.
“We have the part of this pipeline that’s already been approved. It’s the Gulf Coast portion that runs from Cushing, Oklahoma, south into Texas. This one portion of the pipeline is on track to generate over $15 million annually in tax revenue for Oklahoma,” Fallin said.
The northern portion of the pipeline requires presidential approval because it crosses an international border.
Critics claim it will increase pollution blamed for global warming and put communities along its 1,179-mile route at risk for a damaging spill.
Obama used his radio address to discuss proposed changes in education, including replacing the federal No Child Left Behind initiative with a law that he said “addresses the overuse of standardized tests.”
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