Democracy Now: Touting Drilling Support, Obama Backs Southern Leg of Keystone XL

President Obama has made a swing through western states to promote his administration’s so-called “all of the above” energy policy. On Thursday, Obama appeared in Cushing, Oklahoma, to announce his support for TransCanada to build the southern leg of its Keystone oil pipeline from Oklahoma to Texas. The move comes two months after Obama rejected the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline after large protests by environmental groups.
President Obama: “There’s a bottleneck right here because we can’t get enough of the oil to our refineries fast enough. And if we could, then we would be able to increase our oil supplies at a time when they’re needed as much as possible. Now, right now, a company called TransCanada has applied to build a new pipeline to speed more oil from Cushing to state-of-the-art refineries down on the Gulf Coast. And today, I’m directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done.”
In his remarks, Obama bragged that his administration has authorized enough gas pipelines to encircle the earth.
President Obama: “Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. (Applause.) That’s important to know. Over the last three years, I’ve directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states. We’re opening up more than 75 percent of our potential oil resources offshore. We’ve quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We’ve added enough new oil and gas pipeline to encircle the Earth and then some.”

~ by wheresthemic on March 23, 2012.