Obama quiet on Keystone, GOP not

After President Obama made no mention of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in his State of the Union address, Republicans hunkered down Tuesday night to spread the word the project had been “snubbed.”

Leading up to the president’s fifth such address, Republicans called on Obama to make a decision on the proposed TransCanada pipeline, which would carry crude from the oil sands in Alberta to Gulf of Mexico refineries.

{mosads}Obama remained silent on his decision Tuesday, although questions were raised after he said he would streamline the permitting process for top projects to get more workers on the job, which is the kind of approval Keystone needs.

Still, the Senate Republican’s Communication Center complied quotes throughout the years from a number of GOP lawmakers, a few Democrats, and industry stakeholders — all demanding a speedy decision and lauding the jobs that would be created if the pipeline were to be built.

“Keystone snubbed again,” the email reads. “President Obama didn’t even mention the popular jobs project tonight despite years of strong support from unions and Democrats.”

With job creation a central focus of Obama’s speech on Tuesday, Republicans chided that Keystone XL provides the president with the perfect opportunity.

“Although it is only one project, the Keystone XL pipeline illustrates the way the president is holding up our economy and discouraging real, private-sector job creation,” Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said in a statement after the speech.

“The Keystone pipeline, and projects like it, will create millions of jobs.”

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) took another route by blasting Obama for taking credit for the increase in oil and gas production.

“The president also once again claimed to support increased domestic energy production,” Smith said in a statement on Wednesday. “But from coal-killing EPA regulations to continual opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline, the president’s policies promote more regulation, not more energy.”