Bill Text: IA SR103 | 2011-2012 | 84th General Assembly | Introduced

Iowa Senate Resolution 103 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: A resolution in support of the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline project.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 23-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-01 - Resolution filed, referred to Rules & Administration. S.J. 161. [SR103 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2011-SR103-Introduced.html

Senate Resolution 103 - Introduced SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 103 BY BEHN , JOHNSON , CHELGREN , KAPUCIAN , WHITVER , SEYMOUR , BOETTGER , KETTERING , ANDERSON , BERTRAND , ERNST , FEENSTRA , HAMERLINCK , DIX , SORENSON , GREINER , SMITH , HOUSER , ZAUN , McKINLEY , BARTZ , WARD , BACON , and HAHN A Resolution in support of the completion of the 1 Keystone XL pipeline project. 2 WHEREAS, the United States relies, and will continue 3 to rely for many years, on gasoline, diesel, and jet 4 fuel despite a recent focus on the development and 5 utilization of alternative and renewable sources of 6 energy; and 7 WHEREAS, additional amounts of oil and natural 8 gas, as well as alternative sources of energy, 9 will be necessary in order to expand this country’s 10 economy; and 11 WHEREAS, the United States currently depends on 12 foreign imports for more than one-half of its petroleum 13 usage, and as the largest consumer of petroleum in the 14 world, this dependence has created difficult political 15 relationships with damaging consequences for this 16 country’s national security; and 17 WHEREAS, oil shale deposits in the Bakken Reserves 18 in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota are an 19 increasingly important crude oil resource, with an 20 estimated 11 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil, 21 and there is not enough pipeline capacity for crude 22 oil supplies from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, 23 Oklahoma, and Texas to reach American refineries; and 24 -1- LSB 5516SS (4) 84 rn/rj 1/ 3

S.R. 103 WHEREAS, Canadian oil reserves contain an estimated 25 173 billion barrels of recoverable oil, and Canada is 26 the single largest supplier of oil to the United States 27 at 2.62 million barrels per day, and Canada has the 28 capacity to significantly increase this rate; and 1 WHEREAS, the Keystone XL pipeline will, when 2 completed, carry 700,000 barrels of North American 3 oil to American refineries in the Gulf Coast region 4 and the construction of the pipeline will create an 5 estimated 120,000 jobs nationwide, generate $20 billion 6 in economic growth, and generate millions of dollars 7 in government receipts; and 8 WHEREAS, a recent study by the United States 9 Department of Energy found that increasing oil 10 deliveries to American refineries from Montana, North 11 Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, and Alberta, 12 Canada, to American refineries has the potential to 13 substantially reduce this country’s dependency on 14 foreign energy sources; and 15 WHEREAS, Canada sends more than 99 percent of its 16 oil exports to the United States, the bulk of which 17 goes to midwestern refineries, oil companies are 18 investing huge sums to expand and upgrade refineries in 19 the Midwest and elsewhere to make gasoline and other 20 refined products from Canadian oil, and these expansion 21 and upgrade projects will create many construction jobs 22 over the next five years, and add to Iowa’s gross state 23 product; and 24 WHEREAS, the same money used to purchase North 25 American oil will likely later be spent directly on 26 -2- LSB 5516SS (4) 84 rn/rj 2/ 3

S.R. 103 United States goods and services in contrast with money 27 sent to hostile oil-producing governments that is later 28 used to further antidemocratic agendas; NOW THEREFORE, 29 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate 30 supports the continued and increased development 1 and delivery of oil derived from North American oil 2 reserves to American refineries and urges the United 3 States Congress to similarly support that continued and 4 increased development and delivery; and 5 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate urges the 6 United States Congress to request the approval of the 7 Keystone XL pipeline project, which has been awaiting 8 a permit since 2008 in order to reduce dependence on 9 unstable governments, improve this country’s national 10 security, and strengthen ties with an important 11 ally; and 12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this 13 resolution be sent to the members of Iowa’s 14 congressional delegation. 15 -3- LSB 5516SS (4) 84 rn/rj 3/ 3