As Introduced

130th General Assembly
Regular Session
2013-2014
H. C. R. No. 9


Representative Adams, J. 

Cosponsors: Representatives Grossman, Hood, Hottinger, Retherford, Brenner, Duffey, Thompson, Boose, Hill, Stautberg, Derickson, Beck, Becker, Rosenberger, Hall, Johnson, Sears, Wachtmann, Adams, R., Henne, Brown, Buchy, Green, Hackett, Maag, Lynch, Sprague, Roegner, Dovilla, Milkovich, Huffman 



A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To urge the United States Department of State to 1
approve the presidential permit application 2
allowing the construction and operation of the 3
TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline between the 4
United States and Canada.5


BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF OHIO
(THE SENATE CONCURRING):


       WHEREAS, The United States accounts for 20% of world energy 6
consumption and is the world's largest petroleum consumer, 7
consuming 15 million barrels of oil each day, and these amounts 8
are not forecasted to change for decades; and9

       WHEREAS, Current oil imports amount to over 8 million barrels 10
each day, approximately 50% of the United States' requirements; 11
and12

       WHEREAS, The United States will remain dependent on imported 13
energy for decades regardless of new technology, oil discoveries, 14
alternative fuels, and conservation efforts; and15

       WHEREAS, A secure supply of crude oil is needed by Americans 16
for heating their homes, cooking their food, and fueling their 17
vehicles, and to allow the United States economy to thrive and be 18
freed from the potential threats and disruptions of the crude oil 19
supply from less secure parts of the world; and20

       WHEREAS, The growing production of conflict-free oil from the 21
Canadian oil sands and the Bakken formation in Saskatchewan, 22
Montana, and North Dakota can replace crude oil imported from 23
countries that do not share American values and therefore 24
additional pipeline capacity to refineries in the United States 25
Midwest and Gulf Coast regions is required; and26

       WHEREAS, Increasing energy imports from Canada makes sense 27
for the United States because Canada is a trusted neighbor with a 28
stable democratic government, strong environmental standards equal 29
to that of the United States, and some of the most stringent human 30
rights and worker protection laws in the world; and31

       WHEREAS, Improvements in production technology continue to 32
reduce the carbon footprint of Canadian oil sands development; and 33

       WHEREAS, Oil sands production accounts for 6.5% of Canada's 34
greenhouse gas emissions and 0.1% of global greenhouse gas 35
emissions, and total emissions from Canada's oil sands sector was 36
45 megatons in 2009 which is equivalent to 3.5% of emissions from 37
United States coal fired power generation in the same year, 38
despite oil sands crude having similar carbon dioxide emissions to 39
other heavy oils and being 6% more carbon-intensive than the 40
United States crude supply average on a wells-to-wheels basis; and 41

       WHEREAS, The 58 refineries in the Gulf Coast region provide a 42
total refining capacity of approximately 8.4 million barrels per 43
day, or nearly half of the United States' refining capacity; and 44

       WHEREAS, In 2009, Gulf Coast region refineries imported 45
approximately 5 million barrels per day of crude oil from more 46
than 40 countries with 21% coming from Mexico, 17% from Venezuela, 47
12% from Saudi Arabia, and 11% from Nigeria; and 48

       WHEREAS, Crude oil imports from Mexico and Venezuela are 49
declining as production from those countries decreases and supply 50
contracts expire; and 51

       WHEREAS, Once completed, the TransCanada's Keystone XL and 52
Gulf Coast Pipeline Projects could displace roughly 40% of the oil 53
the United States currently imports from the Middle East and 54
Venezuela; and55

       WHEREAS, The Keystone XL Pipeline Project has been subject to 56
the most thorough public consultation process of any proposed 57
United States pipeline and the subject of multiple environmental 58
impact statements and several United States Department of State 59
studies that have concluded that the Pipeline poses the least 60
impact to the environment as compared to, and is much safer than, 61
other modes of transporting crude oil; and62

       WHEREAS, Pipelines are the safest method for the 63
transportation of petroleum products when compared to other 64
methods of transportation - for example, transporting by pipeline 65
is 100 times safer than transporting by truck and 40 times safer 66
than transporting by rail; and67

       WHEREAS, The Keystone XL Pipeline will replace the hauling 68
capacity of a tanker train that is 25 miles long or 200 ocean 69
tankers per year thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions by as 70
much as 19 million tons, which is the equivalent of taking almost 71
4 million cars off the road; and72

       WHEREAS, The Keystone XL Pipeline Project will support over 73
10,000 jobs in United States construction and manufacturing 74
industries such as pipefitting, welding, electrical, heavy 75
equipment operating, and other sectors in virtually every state in 76
the United States; and 77

       WHEREAS, 75% of the pipe used to build the Keystone XL 78
Pipeline in the United States will come from North American mills, 79
including half made by workers in the United States, and goods for 80
the pipeline valued at approximately $800 million have already 81
been sourced from manufacturers in the United States; now 82
therefore be it 83

       RESOLVED, That we, the members of the Ohio House of 84
Representatives of the 130th General Assembly, respectfully urge 85
the United States Department of State to approve the presidential 86
permit application allowing the construction and operation of the 87
TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline between the United States and 88
Canada in order to strengthen the United States' energy security, 89
provide for critical pipeline infrastructure to achieve North 90
American energy independence, and to stimulate the economy and 91
create jobs; and be it further92

       RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives 93
transmit duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the 94
Secretary of State of the United States, the President of the 95
United States, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of 96
Representatives, the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of the 97
United States Senate, the members of the Ohio Congressional 98
delegation, and the news media of Ohio.99