To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. The issue that we are dealing with today is of enormous consequence for our country and, in fact, for the entire planet. For that reason I rise in very strong opposition to the legislation on the floor and to the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

I strongly oppose this legislation and this project for a number of reasons. First and foremost, at a time when the scientific community is virtually unanimous in telling us that climate change is real, that it is caused by human activity and carbon emissions, that it is already causing devastating problems not only in the United States but all over the world in terms of drought, forest fires, flooding, extreme weather disturbances, and rising sea levels, at this moment when the scientific community is so clear about the dangers inherent upon a further dependance on fossil fuels, it is absolutely imperative for the future wellbeing of this country that we listen to the scientists and we begin the path forward to break our dependency on fossil fuel, not accelerate more drilling for the dirtiest oil on the planet.

The scientific community is telling us that we have a narrow window of opportunity to address the crisis of climate change. We do not have years and years. There are some people who think, in fact, that the game is already over, that the problem is irreversible. But be that as it may be, clearly our job now is to move as dramatically, as forcefully, as aggressively as we can to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency, to weatherization, to sustainable energy such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and other sustainable technologies.

The Keystone XL Pipeline would move us exactly in the wrong direction. More dependance not only on fossil fuels but on some of the dirtiest fossil fuels imaginable--the dirtiest fossil fuels imaginable. That is crazy. To reject what the scientific community is telling us and then to add insult to injury by going forward aggressively and accelerating the drilling of dirty oil is something that is almost beyond comprehension.

I wonder what our kids and our grandchildren will think years and years from now when they have to deal with the damage we have caused, when they have to deal with the floods and the extreme weather disturbances and the droughts and the wars that are fought by people over limited resources. I wonder what they will think about a Congress which was told by those who know the most to move away from fossil fuels, and, in fact, moved in exactly the wrong direction by accelerating drilling for the dirtiest oil on the Earth?

That is the major point. But furthermore, this legislation is being referred to by some as a "jobs program.'' Well, in my opinion, we do need a jobs program. We need a major jobs program. Real unemployment in this country is close to 11 percent. Youth unemployment is 20 percent. Unemployment in the construction trade industries is very high. We need a real jobs program.

That is why we have to invest a substantial sum of money into rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure--our roads, our bridges, our water systems, our rail, our airports. In doing that we improve life in this country. We make our Nation more productive, more efficient. That is very different than creating jobs through the Keystone Pipeline, which damages the future of our planet and the lives of our kids and our grandchildren.

Furthermore, when people talk about this being a jobs program, let's understand that there is no debate that what we are talking about are less than 50 permanent jobs--less than 50 permanent jobs. So to suggest this is some kind of big jobs program is nothing more than a cruel hoax and a misleading hoax to workers in this country who need decent-paying jobs.

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Mr. SANDERS. I thank the Senator. I would mention that several years ago we worked together to pass the Energy Efficiency Block Grant Program, which pumped billions of dollars into weatherization, into sustainable energy.

I can tell you that in the State of Vermont right now work is being done weatherizing homes, saving substantial sums of money on fuel bills for working people, seeing a 30-, 40-percent reduction in fuel bills and equivalent reductions in the emission of carbon into the air. That is what we should be investing in all over America. Let's create those jobs. Let's create jobs building the wind turbines and the solar panels that we desperately need.

We need to be aggressive in that area and above that and beyond that. Everybody knows that bridges in Vermont, in California--the Senator is chairman of not only the environmental committee but the public works committee. She knows that as well as anybody. We need to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. I understand why the construction workers want these jobs, with high unemployment in construction industry.

We have to put these guys to work and we can do that. We can do it by transforming our energy system. We can do it by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. We are talking about millions of decent-paying jobs, not 50 permanent jobs or a few thousand construction jobs. We are talking about millions of permanent jobs.

I would further add, when we heard this discussion during the caucus today--and I would ask the Senator of California, the chair of the committee, if my Republican friends are so concerned about jobs, please tell me where we are going with the wind tax credit and the solar tax credit, which have been so very important to creating jobs in the wind and solar energy.

Clearly, our friends who talk about the "all of the aboves'' are enthusiastically supporting these tax credits.

Will my friend from California enlighten us?

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Mr. SANDERS. If I may reclaim my time and wind down and finish my remarks, there are two basic issues. No. 1, I know many of my Republican friends deny what the overwhelming majority of scientists are telling us; that is, not only is climate change real, that it is caused by human activity, that it is already causing devastating problems. To continue to deny that reality is to endanger the lives of our kids, our grandchildren, and the planet on which they will live. To say to people all over the world that we Americans are concerned about climate change and yet vote for a project which will encourage and accelerate the excavation of some of the dirtiest oil in the world will make all of us look like fools and hypocrites throughout the world and will make future generations wonder what we were thinking about on that vote today.

With that, I reserve the remainder of my time.

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