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HCR 9
As Adopted by House

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H. C. R. No. 9 As Adopted by the House

As Adopted by the House

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, Gerberry, Cera, Fedor, Anielski, Baker, Barborak, Blessing, Burkley, Butler, Conditt, Damschroder, Hagan, C., Hayes, Kunze, Landis, Letson, Lundy, McClain, McGregor, Pelanda, Perales, Romanchuk, Ruhl, Scherer, Schuring, Slesnick, Smith, Stebelton, Sykes, Szollosi, Terhar, Young Speaker Batchelder

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

To urge the United States Department of State to approve the presidential permit application allowing the construction and operation of the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline between the United States and Canada.

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 consumption and is the world's largest petroleum consumer, consuming 15 million barrels of oil each day, and these amounts are not forecasted to change for decades; and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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