The Columbus Dispatch - Portman: Keystone Pipeline Would Help Ohio

News Article

By Alan Johnson

The 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline won't come near Ohio, but it could produce big economic benefits for the state, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman said yesterday.

Portman, a Republican from Cincinnati, toured Ametek Solidstate Controls, 875 Dearborn Dr. in Columbus, and spoke to a group of employees about the importance of the $7.6 billion pipeline proposed to stretch from Alberta, Canada, through six U.S. states to Texas.

"The arguments when you line them up are too strong not to do this," Portman said. "I do think that at the end of the day the president is going to go ahead with this."

Among the potential benefits to Ohioans: lower prices at the gas pump and more jobs, Portman said.

The Keystone XL Pipeline, designed to carry oil gleaned from oil sands in Canada to processing plants on the Gulf Coast, became a political flash point in January when President Barack Obama declined a permit for the project. The president argued that there had not been enough time to review potential environmental and other effects. Republicans subsequently inserted the project in unrelated legislation, but Obama vetoed it.

Ametek, better known as Solidstate, is a supplier of electrical power supplies, controls, transformers and related equipment. The company sells products worldwide to customers including American Electric Power, Bohai Steel (China), Chevron, Columbia Gas, Exxon Mobil, Honeywell and Taiwan Power Co. The company has about 500 employees in Columbus, its world headquarters.

Solidstate officials said the company is in line for work on the pipeline project -- if and when it's built.

"This is a great opportunity for a company that has lots of opportunity to do more business in this country," Portman said.

Portman, who has been mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate with GOP candidate Mitt Romney, said the timing for his plant tour was "totally unrelated" to Obama's scheduled trip to the state. The president will be at Ohio State University on Thursday to discuss energy issues.

Obama's popularity has taken a recent nosedive in public opinion polls, in part because of the steep increase in gasoline prices.

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