Bill Clinton backing Keystone pipeline
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Clinton Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks during an awards ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, on Feb. 13. Clinton says he's in favour TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline.
WASHINGTON Former U.S. president Bill Clinton says he’s in favour TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline — the controversial project whose ultimate fate is in the hands of his wife.
Clinton expressed his support during a speech Wednesday at the Department of Energy’s conference for clean-technology startup companies in Maryland.
But he wondered aloud why TransCanada didn’t originally propose to build the pipeline around an environmentally fragile area of Nebraska.
He says the extra cost of rerouting the project around the Nebraska Sand Hills is insignificant compared to the revenue that will be generated over a long period of time.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, testifying later Wednesday to the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee hearings into energy security, was asked about her husband’s remarks.
She said to laughter that her husband is “a very smart man,” adding that “unfortunately” the decision is not his to make.
The State Department is deciding the fate of the pipeline since it crosses an international border.
The pipeline has become a rallying cry for Republican presidential candidates, as well.
After narrowly winning the Michigan primary Tuesday, Mitt Romney vowed to keep fighting for Keystone XL, saying if he’s elected president, he’ll get that oil from Canada “that we deserve.”