To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline

Floor Speech

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Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the bill mandating approval of the Keystone Pipeline. I oppose the project because I believe accelerating the development of tar sands oil is contrary to our national interests, economic interests, national security interests, and environmental interests.

I believe there is no way to fully analyze this question without grappling with another question: Is carbon pollution from human activity affecting the world's climate in a negative way? Because if carbon pollution doesn't affect climate, then tar sands or this pipeline would not be a significant issue for me. But if we accept the general scientific consensus--and Virginians do--that carbon pollution does cause negative changes in climate, stopping or even slowing development of the tar sands is good for the United States and the world.

Some of the people who encourage me to support this project duck when I ask them this question: Do you think manmade carbon pollution affects our climate? One Virginia CEO, whose company is filled with scientific talent, basically told me, ``I don't know, I am not a scientist.'' And a representative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce testified similarly before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this year. But those of us who take an oath to serve here have a responsibility to consider the scientific evidence.

In Virginia, the second largest region is Hampton Roads, comprised of 1.6 million people in numerous cities and counties along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coast. Hampton Roads is a thriving economy as well as the home of the largest concentration of naval power in the world. It is also, next to New Orleans, the region most directly affected by rising sea levels, and all agree that rising sea levels are caused in part by carbon pollution. Climate changes are not a tomorrow issue in Virginia, they are a today issue.

Throughout Hampton Roads, rising sea levels are causing significant challenges, flooding roads, homes--with neighborhoods damaged and some even unmarketable--and causing economic harm to families and businesses. At current projections, the main access road into the U.S. Navy's principal base in Hampton Roads will be flooded and impassable 3 hours a day by 2040. With an economy so dependent upon the naval presence, anything that threatens this military investment is potentially devastating.

I sponsored a symposium on sea level rise in Hampton Roads this summer attended by hundreds, with bipartisan representation from local, State, and Federal officials and Members of Congress. The concern is real and virtually all estimates of sea level rise in this community pose staggering challenges to every aspect of life here for years to come.

It is not just Hampton Roads. Virginia's largest industry is still agriculture and forestry--very affected by climate. Tourism is a major industry which is very affected by climate. Aquaculture is an important industry and climate affects it. So to those who want to duck the question of climate change or challenge the scientific evidence, I say to them, come to Virginia with me and talk to people whose lives are being seriously affected today by climate changes caused in part by escalating climate pollution.

So what is the answer to this problem and how does it relate to the Keystone Pipeline?

We have to continue to move toward a cleaner energy economy. We can't throw the brake on the use of fossil fuels. That would be unrealistic and hurt our economy.

As Governor of Virginia, I supported building a state-of-the-art coal plant in exchange for converting a plant that predated the Clean Air Act from coal to natural gas.

I support development of offshore energy. We can use a phased approach to produce energy cleaner tomorrow than today, reducing pollution caused by our energy sources through innovation and creating jobs. Guess what. As you know, that is exactly what we are doing.

Wind power involves no carbon pollution, and it is the fastest growing energy source in America. Cleaner tomorrow than today.

Utility scale solar electricity output increased 23-fold in the last decade. Cleaner tomorrow than today.

The revolution of natural gas production in the United States has turned our country into the world's leading energy producer and helped us reduce carbon pollution. Cleaner tomorrow than today.

Innovation driven by smart regulation in the American auto industry means we are producing cars that go much farther on gas than ever before. These developments help reduce demand for oil, thus dropping prices to consumers. Cleaner tomorrow than today.

Virginia ratepayers supported nuclear investments over the years that have enabled us to generate 40 percent of our power through noncarbon technology. Cleaner tomorrow than today.

And just as new technologies helped us make coal plants cleaner in the 1980s to battle acid rain, there are ways to make our existing and future coal plants emit less carbon pollution. Cleaner tomorrow than today.

With the United States taking significant leadership steps, it is more likely that other nations will do so as well. I believe our innovative path is one of the reasons why China was willing to announce recently they will take similar steps. Cleaner tomorrow than today.

The United States is now becoming a global leader in reducing carbon pollution, and we are there because of smart regulations and, especially, American innovation. We always have to make sure regulations strike the right balance. But by becoming cleaner tomorrow than today, we are creating jobs, protecting the environment, reducing our trade deficit, and ending our overdependence on energy from foreign nations. As members of the Armed Services Committee, the Members here on the floor, this reduced energy dependence is great for American national security.

This is why I oppose the Keystone project. Tar sands oil is dirty energy, producing significantly more carbon pollution than petroleum. After all we have done to be cleaner tomorrow than today, why would we embrace the technology that is a huge backslide that produces more, not less, carbon pollution than conventional sources? Embracing a dirtier energy technology moves us in precisely the wrong direction.

Keystone as a single project is neither the environmental game over some would suggest nor the energy panacea others would promise. But whether we embrace the tar sands oil development does send a message about how we intend to meet American and global energy needs. We can either send the message of cleaner tomorrow than today or send a message anything goes. Because U.S. innovation is helping us lead the world to a ``cleaner tomorrow than today'' energy future, we should not turn back now.

There are those who say that the tar sands fields of Alberta will be developed anyway so why doesn't the United States just go along? The owners of the resource may well develop it and find alternate routes to ship it through Canada. They can make their decision on their own, although falling oil prices may make the relative cost noncompetitive. Even if the owners of those fields decide to move forward in this development, the official policy of the United States should not, in my view, be to embrace, promote, and accelerate tar sands oil. Our official policy should be ``cleaner tomorrow than today'' and not ``anything goes.''

For these reasons, I oppose the bill to force approval of the Keystone Pipeline project and make accelerated tar sands oil development the official policy of the United States.

I yield the floor.

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