KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - Coverage You Can Count OnFallin Urges Obama To Approve Keystone Pipeline

Fallin Urges Obama To Approve Keystone Pipeline

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin is asking President Obama to immediately approve development of TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline.

The pipeline, which would transport oil from Canada to several points within the U.S., including the Gulf of Mexico, could have big economic benefits for Oklahoma.

"The pipeline represents an enormous and undeniable opportunity for job-creation and economic stimulus at a time when the nation is sorely in need of both," Fallin said in a letter sent to President Obama.

"The creation of the pipeline will also help to ensure our nation's future energy needs are met with resources from politically stable regions of the world right here in North America," she added.

The governor says the potential economic benefits include 20-thousand jobs during construction and a total of 250-thousand permanent jobs due to long-term, stable oil supplies, a 1-point-2 billion dollar economic investment in Oklahoma, increases in personal income of $874 million in Oklahoma and an increase of $667 million in property taxes to county and other local governments during the operating life of the pipeline.

The governor's letter to the President followed a visit to Oklahoma City by TransCanada executives.

"If the president is serious about job creation and economic stimulus, than he needs to get serious about the Keystone XL pipeline," Fallin said. "This is a project that will deliver hundreds of thousands of good, private sector jobs, and it does so without the kind of big government programs that will put our nation further into debt. It's time for the president to stop delaying and approve this project."

The President has until February 21st to decide on the pipeline, or it will be automatically approved.