Bill Text: MI SCR0012 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: A concurrent resolution to urge the U.S. Department of State to approve the Presidential Permit application allowing the construction of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline between the United States and Canada.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-15 - Referred To Committee On Energy And Technology [SCR0012 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-SCR0012-Introduced.html
Senators Proos, Colbeck, Booher, Marleau, Nofs, Robertson, Hansen and Brandenburg offered the following concurrent resolution:
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 12.
A concurrent resolution to urge the U.S. Department of State to approve the Presidential Permit application allowing the construction of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline between the United States and Canada.
Whereas, The United States accounts for nearly 20 percent of world energy consumption and is the world’s largest petroleum consumer. The United States consumes 19.4 million barrels of oil each day and forecasts suggest this will not change for decades. Current crude oil imports amount to more than 9.4 million barrels each day, approximately 50 percent of the United States' requirements.
Whereas, Even with new technology, oil discoveries, alternative fuels, and conservation efforts, the United States will remain dependent on imported energy for decades to come. A secure supply of crude oil is not only needed for Americans to continue to heat their homes, cook their food, and drive their vehicles, but to allow the U.S. economy to thrive and grow free from the potential threats and disruptions of crude oil supply from less secure parts of the world; and
Whereas, The growing production of conflict-free oil from Canada’s oil sands and the Bakken Formation in Saskatchewan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota can replace crude oil imported from countries outside of North America. However, additional pipeline capacity to refineries in the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast is required; and
Whereas, Increasing energy imports from Canada makes sense for the United States. Canada is a trusted neighbor with a stable democratic government, strong environmental standards—equal to that of the United States—and some of the most stringent human rights and worker protection laws in the world; and
Whereas, Improvements in production technology continue to reduce the carbon footprint of Canadian oil sands development. Oil sands production accounts for approximately 0.1 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Total emissions from Canada’s oil sands sector was 62 megatons in 2013, equivalent to about 3.5 percent of emissions from U.S. coal-fired power generation in the same year. Oil sands crude has similar carbon dioxide emissions to other heavy oils and is six percent more carbon-intensive than the average crude oil refined in the United States on a wells-to-wheels basis; and
Whereas, The 58 refineries in the Gulf Coast region provide a total refining capacity of approximately 8.4 million barrels per day (bpd), or nearly half of U.S. refining capacity. In 2015, these refineries imported approximately 3.2 million bpd of crude oil. Fifty percent of that supply comes from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The top three individual suppliers of crude oil to the Gulf Coast are Mexico (20 percent), Venezuela (24 percent), and Saudi Arabia (20 percent). Imports from Mexico and Venezuela are declining as production from these countries decreases and supply contracts expire. Once completed, TransCanada’s Keystone XL and Gulf Coast Expansion projects could displace roughly 44 percent of the oil the United States currently imports from OPEC; and
Whereas, The Keystone XL pipeline project has been subject to the most thorough public consultation process of any proposed U.S. pipeline, and the subject of multiple environmental impact statements and several U.S. Department of State studies. These analyses have concluded that it poses the least impact to the environment and is much safer than other modes of transporting crude oil; and
Whereas, Pipelines are the safest method for the transportation of petroleum products when compared to other methods of transportation. Pipelines are 40 times safer than moving crude oil by rail and 100 times safer than transporting by truck. The Keystone XL pipeline will replace the equivalent of a tanker train 25 miles long, or 200 ocean tankers per year. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 19 million tons, or the equivalent of taking almost four million cars off the road; and
Whereas, The Keystone XL project will support thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs in the United States, representing work for pipefitters, welders, electricians, heavy equipment operators, and other sectors in virtually every state in the country. Seventy-five percent of the pipe used to build Keystone XL in the United States will come from North American mills, including half made by U.S. workers. Goods for the pipeline valued at approximately $800 million have already been sourced from U.S. manufacturers; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That we urge the U.S. Department of State to approve the Presidential Permit application allowing the construction of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline between the United States and Canada; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the U.S. Secretary of State.
