(Oklahoma City)- Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell released the following statement after reports that the Obama Administration will deny TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline:  

“It’s a shame that President Obama is choosing to play political games to appease his far left environmentalist friends at the expense of creating much-needed jobs in this country,” said Chairman Pinnell. “After years of paying lip service to American energy independence, the President has chosen to stand in the way of making that a reality. This is just the latest of many broken promises that candidate Obama campaigned on in 2008.”  

The oil and natural gas industry is the state’s largest employer and has an estimated $40b a year economic impact on the State of Oklahoma. A recent study shows that the Keystone XL pipeline would result in an estimated $1.2b economic investment in Oklahoma and the creation of thousands of new jobs.  

“We in Oklahoma understand the good paying, stable jobs the oil and natural gas industry provides. It’s unfortunate that the President would stand in the way of creating more of those jobs. President Obama has shown again that he’ll do anything to save his job but nothing to create jobs for millions of unemployed Americans.”  

“November can’t get here soon enough,” continued Pinnell. “We look forward to electing a Republican President who will understand the economy and remove the barriers this administration has placed in front of job creators.”

Tags: Barack Obama, Keystone Pipeline, Keystone XL, Matt Pinnell

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