WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement today after opposing a bill to approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline:

“What most disappoints me about this whole debate is that it’s been masked as being about this country’s energy future. In fact, America’s energy future isn’t something I’ve really heard being discussed around here. What Congress owes the American people, and what I hope we can have, is a vigorous debate on real, substantive energy policy for this country – not on whether we should legislate approval of a pipeline.

“Let’s have a forward-looking conversation about how we can transition away from the dirty, climate-harming oil this pipeline will help develop to renewable energy sources that can lead to true independence. Let’s have a debate about how we can create more than 35 long-term jobs by supporting growing green energy industries, like solar, which by itself added more than 31,000 jobs last year and now employs more than 170,000 people. Let’s have a discussion about how we can create jobs and produce energy in America that will actually benefit people in America – not about how we can construct a foreign company’s pipeline that will likely export much of the oil’s products away from our shores to countries abroad.

“Let’s move past the pseudo-debate that Keystone XL has become and focus on what’s really important – this nation’s energy future.”

Senator King spoke out against the Keystone XL pipeline during a hearing before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last month – and in addition to tonight, he also voted against the pipeline last November.

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