SD House Buys Lies on Keystone XL: Guess Which Republican Knows Better?

The South Dakota House of Representatives showed its resistance to facts again yesterday with its feel-good vote for House Concurrent Resolution 1006, a declaration of support for the Keystone XL pipeline. 57 legislators said Keystone XL said a foreign-owned pipeline seizing South Dakotans' property rights is good for South Dakota. 57 legislators are dead wrong:

1. HCR 1006 says Keystone XL will reduce our dependence on oil from unfriendly nations. However, not one drop of Keystone XL's Canadian tar sands oil will end up in American gas tanks. It's all headed for the more lucrative, growing global market. The only Keystone XL oil South Dakota will see will be the crude it spills into our water supply.
2. HCR 1006 touts the job opportunities Keystone XL will create. Those jobs are fleeting and exaggerated, as TransCanada itself has admitted. And where were all the good jobs South Dakotans were supposed to get from the Keystone 1 pipeline in East River?
3. HCR 1006 says Keystone XL will produce lots of tax revenue for local government. Sure, just like Keystone 1... whose potential tax revenues TransCanada exaggerated by a factor of three.
4. HCR 1006 claims that failing to build Keystone XL will "only result in the shipment of the vital petroleum resources of Canada to nations in Asia." HCR 1006 turns truth on its head: TransCanada wants to build Keystone XL to ship that all that oil to Asia. Again, that's the whole business case!

In my home district 8, Rep. Scott Parsley had the good sense to vote against this hogwash. Rep. Leslie Heinemann must have been out pulling teeth; he skipped this vote.

Ten other legislators joined Rep. Parsley in voting for honesty and real South Dakota interests. Most were Democrats (thank you!), but one Republican joined these truth-seekers: Rep. Steve Hickey (R-9/Sioux Falls). Steve! Well done! Now help us spread the gospel that Keystone XL does no good for South Dakota.