Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday criticized President Obama for not approving the Keystone XL pipeline, calling it a simple decision.
Boehner railed about Keystone during a press conference after being asked if the oil-sands pipeline was too “complex an issue to attach” to legislation raising the debt ceiling.
{mosads}”Complex? The Keystone pipeline is complex?” Boehner said. “It’s been under study for five years!
“We build pipelines everywhere in American everyday. Do you realize there are 200,000 miles of pipelines in the United States?
“The only reason that the president’s involved in the Keystone pipeline is because it crosses an international boundary. Listen, we can build it. There’s nothing complex about the Keystone pipeline. It’s time to build it,” Boehner added.
Boehner said Obama should stick to his promises of ending the days when science took a back seat to ideology, as that would lead to quick approval of the $5.4 billion pipeline.
While House GOP leaders are reportedly weighing the possibility of adding legislation approving the pipeline’s construction to the debt ceiling bill, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said nothing has been planned.
“I can say from the House side there is no discussion about attaching or moving anything until 90 days is up,” Terry said at a Keystone XL press conference on Tuesday, referring to the roughly three-month interagency review by the State Department, which will weigh the national interest of the project.
“Anything is possible but there are no discussions occurring.”