Bill Text: MN SF479 | 2013-2014 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Resolution urging the President and the United States department of state to approve the Presidential permit application allowing the construction and operation of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline between the United States and Canada
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-14 - Referred to Environment and Energy [SF479 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2013-SF479-Introduced.html
1.1A resolution
1.2urging the President and the United States Department of State to approve the
1.3Presidential Permit application allowing the construction and operation of the
1.4TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline between the United States and Canada.
1.5WHEREAS, the United States accounts for 20 percent of world energy consumption and
1.6is the world's largest petroleum consumer. The United States consumes more than 18 million
1.7barrels of oil each day, and forecasts suggest this will not change for decades. Current imports
1.8amount to over eight million barrels each day, approximately 50 percent of the United States'
1.9requirements; and
1.10WHEREAS, even with new technology, oil discoveries, alternative fuels, and conservation
1.11efforts, the United States will remain dependent on imported energy for decades to come. A secure
1.12supply of crude oil is not only needed for Americans to continue to heat their homes, cook their
1.13food, and drive their vehicles, but to allow the United States economy to thrive and grow free from
1.14the potential threats and disruptions of crude oil supply from less secure parts of the world; and
1.15WHEREAS, the growing production of conflict-free oil from Canada's oil sands and the
1.16Bakken formation in Saskatchewan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota can replace crude
1.17oil imported from countries that do not share American values, but additional pipeline capacity to
1.18refineries in the United States Midwest and Gulf Coast is required; and
1.19WHEREAS, increasing energy imports from Canada makes sense for the United States.
1.20Canada is a trusted neighbor with a stable democratic government, strong environmental
1.21standards equal to that of the United States, and some of the most stringent human rights and
1.22worker protection legislation in the world; and
2.1WHEREAS, improvements in production technology have reduced the carbon footprint
2.2of Canadian oil sands development by 26 percent on a per barrel basis since 1990. Oil sands
2.3production accounts for 6.9 percent of Canada's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 0.1 percent
2.4(1/1000th) of global GHG emissions. Total emissions from Canada's oil sands sector was 48
2.5megatons in 2010, equivalent to 0.5 percent of United States GHG emissions. Oil sands crude has
2.6similar carbon dioxide emissions to other heavy oils and is nine percent more carbon-intensive
2.7than the average crude refined in the United States on a wells-to-wheels basis; and
2.8WHEREAS, the 57 refineries in the Gulf Coast region provide a total refining capacity of
2.9approximately 8.7 million barrels per day, or half of United States. refining capacity. In 2011,
2.10these refineries imported approximately five million barrels per day of crude oil from more than
2.1130 countries, with the top four suppliers being Mexico (22 percent), Saudi Arabia (17 percent),
2.12Venezuela (16 percent), and Nigeria (nine percent). Imports from Mexico and Venezuela are
2.13declining as production from those countries decreases and supply contracts expire. Once
2.14completed, TransCanada's Keystone XL and Gulf Coast Expansion projects could displace roughly
2.1540 percent of the oil the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf and Venezuela; and
2.16WHEREAS, the Keystone XL pipeline project has been subject to the most thorough
2.17public consultation process of any proposed United States pipeline, and the subject of multiple
2.18environmental impact statements and several United States Department of State studies, which
2.19have concluded that it poses the least impact to the environment and is much safer than other
2.20modes of transporting crude oil; and
2.21WHEREAS, pipelines are the safest method for the transportation of petroleum products
2.22when compared to other methods of transportation. Pipelines are 40 times safer than moving
2.23crude oil by rail and 100 times safer than transporting by truck. Keystone XL will replace the
2.24equivalent of a tanker train 25 miles long, or 200 ocean tankers per year. This will reduce
2.25greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 19 million tons, or the equivalent of taking almost
2.26four million cars off the road; and
2.27WHEREAS, the Keystone XL project will create approximately 9,000 construction jobs.
2.28The Gulf Coast project is a $2.3 billion project that will create approximately 4,000 construction
2.29jobs. Combined, they support yet another 7,000 manufacturing jobs. Seventy-five percent of the
2.30pipe used to build Keystone XL in the United States will come from North American mills,
2.31including half made by United States workers. Goods for the pipeline valued at approximately
2.32$800 million have already been sourced from United States manufacturers; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.33BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it memorializes
2.34the President to support the continued and increased importation of oil derived from Canadian
3.1oil sands, and urges the United States Secretary of State to approve the newly routed pipeline
3.2application from TransCanada to reduce dependence on unstable governments, improve our
3.3national security, and strengthen ties with an important ally.
3.4BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
3.5directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
3.6States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of
3.7the United States House of Representatives, the United States Secretary of State, and Minnesota's
3.8Senators and Representatives in Congress.
1.2urging the President and the United States Department of State to approve the
1.3Presidential Permit application allowing the construction and operation of the
1.4TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline between the United States and Canada.
1.5WHEREAS, the United States accounts for 20 percent of world energy consumption and
1.6is the world's largest petroleum consumer. The United States consumes more than 18 million
1.7barrels of oil each day, and forecasts suggest this will not change for decades. Current imports
1.8amount to over eight million barrels each day, approximately 50 percent of the United States'
1.9requirements; and
1.10WHEREAS, even with new technology, oil discoveries, alternative fuels, and conservation
1.11efforts, the United States will remain dependent on imported energy for decades to come. A secure
1.12supply of crude oil is not only needed for Americans to continue to heat their homes, cook their
1.13food, and drive their vehicles, but to allow the United States economy to thrive and grow free from
1.14the potential threats and disruptions of crude oil supply from less secure parts of the world; and
1.15WHEREAS, the growing production of conflict-free oil from Canada's oil sands and the
1.16Bakken formation in Saskatchewan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota can replace crude
1.17oil imported from countries that do not share American values, but additional pipeline capacity to
1.18refineries in the United States Midwest and Gulf Coast is required; and
1.19WHEREAS, increasing energy imports from Canada makes sense for the United States.
1.20Canada is a trusted neighbor with a stable democratic government, strong environmental
1.21standards equal to that of the United States, and some of the most stringent human rights and
1.22worker protection legislation in the world; and
2.1WHEREAS, improvements in production technology have reduced the carbon footprint
2.2of Canadian oil sands development by 26 percent on a per barrel basis since 1990. Oil sands
2.3production accounts for 6.9 percent of Canada's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 0.1 percent
2.4(1/1000th) of global GHG emissions. Total emissions from Canada's oil sands sector was 48
2.5megatons in 2010, equivalent to 0.5 percent of United States GHG emissions. Oil sands crude has
2.6similar carbon dioxide emissions to other heavy oils and is nine percent more carbon-intensive
2.7than the average crude refined in the United States on a wells-to-wheels basis; and
2.8WHEREAS, the 57 refineries in the Gulf Coast region provide a total refining capacity of
2.9approximately 8.7 million barrels per day, or half of United States. refining capacity. In 2011,
2.10these refineries imported approximately five million barrels per day of crude oil from more than
2.1130 countries, with the top four suppliers being Mexico (22 percent), Saudi Arabia (17 percent),
2.12Venezuela (16 percent), and Nigeria (nine percent). Imports from Mexico and Venezuela are
2.13declining as production from those countries decreases and supply contracts expire. Once
2.14completed, TransCanada's Keystone XL and Gulf Coast Expansion projects could displace roughly
2.1540 percent of the oil the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf and Venezuela; and
2.16WHEREAS, the Keystone XL pipeline project has been subject to the most thorough
2.17public consultation process of any proposed United States pipeline, and the subject of multiple
2.18environmental impact statements and several United States Department of State studies, which
2.19have concluded that it poses the least impact to the environment and is much safer than other
2.20modes of transporting crude oil; and
2.21WHEREAS, pipelines are the safest method for the transportation of petroleum products
2.22when compared to other methods of transportation. Pipelines are 40 times safer than moving
2.23crude oil by rail and 100 times safer than transporting by truck. Keystone XL will replace the
2.24equivalent of a tanker train 25 miles long, or 200 ocean tankers per year. This will reduce
2.25greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 19 million tons, or the equivalent of taking almost
2.26four million cars off the road; and
2.27WHEREAS, the Keystone XL project will create approximately 9,000 construction jobs.
2.28The Gulf Coast project is a $2.3 billion project that will create approximately 4,000 construction
2.29jobs. Combined, they support yet another 7,000 manufacturing jobs. Seventy-five percent of the
2.30pipe used to build Keystone XL in the United States will come from North American mills,
2.31including half made by United States workers. Goods for the pipeline valued at approximately
2.32$800 million have already been sourced from United States manufacturers; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.33BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it memorializes
2.34the President to support the continued and increased importation of oil derived from Canadian
3.1oil sands, and urges the United States Secretary of State to approve the newly routed pipeline
3.2application from TransCanada to reduce dependence on unstable governments, improve our
3.3national security, and strengthen ties with an important ally.
3.4BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
3.5directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
3.6States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of
3.7the United States House of Representatives, the United States Secretary of State, and Minnesota's
3.8Senators and Representatives in Congress.
