A copy of a letter to the editor I sent to the St. Cloud Times: The Democratic War on Prosperity continues. On November 18th, on a vote that was one yea short of passage, the proposed Keystone XL pipeline was voted down in the United States Senate. This would have brought tens of thousands sorely-needed, well-paying jobs to the American economy. Not to mention the boon of the ripple effect those gainfully-employed people would have had on local and regional economies throughout the nations heartland. To decry the proposed Keystone XLs pipeline as environmentally harmful is simply not true. The Alaskan pipeline was constructed many decades ago among shrill cries and dire warnings of driving caribou herds into extinction and other environmental calamities. Quite the opposite has happened. Pipelines are among the safest and most environmentally friendly means of transporting oil--much safer than the rail cars. And according to the Congressional Research Service 13% of the proposed Keystone Pipelines capacity has been set aside to transport Bakken crude oil. That once again frees a lot of the freight train capacity required to transport grains and other traditionally rail-transported goods. And bringing Canadian and American oil to world markets will necessarily drive down the price of all oil, while making the world that much less dependent on oil from the volatile Middle East. Yet our Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar somehow just couldnt bring themselves to vote for that much prosperity--nor that much common sense. In what can only reasonably be construed as a War on Prosperity, from blocking the Keystone XL pipeline, to blocking the much-needed jobs that would be provided by PolyMet in Minnesota’s Iron Range, it would appear the only ones in Minnesota standing in the way of true economic progress and prosperity are, ironically, progressive DFL politicians. Leo Pusateri St. Cloud, Minnesota
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 01:17:27 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015