"I am returning herewith without my approval S[enate Bill] 1, the 'Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act.'"
With that beginning, President Barack Obama on Tuesday vetoed legislation to authorize construction of a 1,179-mile pipeline that would carry 800,000 barrels of heavy petroleum a day from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to ports and refineries on the Gulf Coast.
In a 104-word letter to the Senate, Obama explained his reasoning simply: "Through this bill, the United States Congress attempts to circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether or not building and operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest.
"The Presidential power to veto legislation is one I take seriously. But I also take seriously my responsibility to the American people. And because this act of Congress conflicts with established executive branch procedures and cuts short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest -- including our security, safety, and environment -- it has earned my veto."
It was the right thing to do, for that and many more reasons.
The oil is Canadian and will be sold and used in other foreign countries. It is the costliest, dirtiest, most polluting of oils -- not to mention extremely volatile and dangerous oil, yet it would be transported via this pipeline across America over one of the nation's most important and fragile underground, freshwater aquifers. This nastiest of oils would be refined in Gulf of Mexico refineries and then exported to China and India.
The profits are on the foreign ends of the pipeline (except for large Canadian Tar Sands leases owned by the Koch brothers) but the risks are all ours.
And for what? Fewer than 50 permanent new jobs and a dirty oil that's already nearly priced out of the market.
Instead of this folly, we need to be investing in jobs and infrastructure that move us away from fossil fuels and global warming and toward carbon-free, renewable energy that is clean, durable and sustainable.
But this Congress can't see ideas beyond the checkbooks of the Koch brothers and the donations of the oil industry. Since 2011, the proposed Keystone pipeline has emerged in politics as a broader symbol of the partisan clash over energy, climate change and the economy.
The arguments began in 2008, when the TransCanada Corp. applied for a permit to construct the pipeline. The State Department is required to determine whether the pipeline is in the national interest, but the last word on whether the project will go forward ultimately rests with the president. Obama has delayed his decision until all the legal and environmental reviews of the process are completed. He has said a critical factor in his decision will be whether the project contributes to climate change.
Last year, an 11-volume environmental impact review by the State Department concluded that oil extracted from the Canadian oil sands produced about 17 percent more carbon pollution than conventionally extracted oil. But the review also notes the pipeline is unlikely to contribute to a significant increase in planet-warming greenhouse gases because the fuel would probably be extracted from the oil sands and sold with or without the pipeline's construction. Sans pipeline, the oil is being transported via truck and train tankers, and several explosions and spills have resulted just in recent months.
This month, environmentalists pointed to a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency that they said proved that the pipeline could add to greenhouse gases.
House speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, called the president's veto "a national embarrassment" and accused Obama of being "too close to environmental extremists" and "too invested in left-fringe politics."
Environmentalists hailed the decision: "Republicans in Congress continued to waste everyone's time with a bill destined to go nowhere, just to satisfy the agenda of their big oil allies," said Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club. "The president has all the evidence he needs to reject Keystone XL now, and we are confident that he will."
The president exercised the unique power of the Oval Office for only the third time since his election in 2008, but with the swagger of the new Republican majority in Congress, he may need to practice that power a few more times before his term is complete.
This one was fully deserved. The Keystone Pipeline has nothing to do with America's long-term security and everything to do with greatly enriching a few individuals and companies. It's their gain and our risk.