Opening Statement from Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.)
Full Committee Markup on H.R. 3548, Keystone XL Pipeline Legislation, Energy and Commerce Committee
February 6, 2012

“We have been told that the oil coming through this pipeline would enable us to reduce our dependence on oil imported from unfriendly Middle Eastern nations. In Transcanada’s testimony to this Committee, it posed what it said was the key question, DoAmericans want “secure, stable oil from a friendly neighbor in Canada or do they want to continue importing high priced conflict oil from unfriendly regions such as the Middle East or Venezuela?”
 
“So it turns out that Transcanada’s Congressional testimony and its actual plan are 2 different things.  Here’s the real plan:
 
“Step 1: Transcanada puts the dirtiest oil on the planet into the brand new pipelineRepublicans are giving it.
“Step 2: Transcanada sends that oil to the Gulf Coast where it can make billions more than where it currently sells it in the Midwest.
“Step 3: Refineries in the Gulf Coast re-export it to other countries at world oil market prices, and don’t pay any taxes for doing so.
“Step 4:  Americans get higher gas prices and no increased energy security.
“Step 5:  Transcanada, Hugo Chavez and the sheiks in Saudi Arabia laugh all the way to the bank.
 
“This bill not only tries to sneak a pipeline through the country – it also allows Transcanada to sneak the fuels from the pipeline right out of the country.
 
“During our Subcommittee hearings, Republicans constantly argued that the oil market follows the law of supply and demand.
 
What they fail to mention is that it is OPEC’s law of supply and demand that governs this market, which is ‘We control the supply, so you pay what we demand.’

“The pipeline can’t wean us off oil no matter how much tar sands are pried out of Canadian soil.  But at least we don’t have to add insult to the environmental injury that this pipeline will cause. At least we don’t have to acquiesce to Transcanada’s vision of the U.S. as the mere middleman between Alberta and Asia. I hope we can all agree – if the pipeline is built, the oil and the refined fuels should stay here.”