Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton revealed her stance on the Keystone pipeline, as well as views on prescription drug costs during a campaign stop in Des Moines Tuesday.
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Clinton called the pipeline “a distraction to the important work we have to do on climate change” that “interferes with our ability to move forward with all the other issues”.
“I oppose it because I don’t think it’s in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change”.
“We are thrilled that Secretary Clinton has continued to build on her longtime environmental leadership by publicly opposing the dirty and unsafe Keystone XL tar sands pipeline”, said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of government affairs for the group.
“You won’t get me to talk about Keystone”, Clinton said in January.
“I’m glad that Hillary Clinton finally has made a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline and I welcome her opposition”, Sanders posted on Twitter.
As a candidate, Clinton has often been asked about her position on the controversial pipeline, and to date she has deflected those questions. He said through a spokesman that Canada knows “the American people support the project”.
Republican presidential contender Carly Fiorina told a South Carolina town hall meeting, “let’s see, it took her two years to figure out what her position is on the Keystone pipeline”. In explaining her answer Tuesday, Clinton said she didn’t want to interfere with a review process that started under her watch. “Hillary is now standing with us to ask President Obama to reject the pipeline once and for all”, said one anti-Keystone activist, Bold Nebraska Director Jane Kleeb, adding, “We are proud Sec”.
He left the fundraiser – which was held at the home of Kaki Hockersmith, the woman who redecorated the Oval Office for the Clintons while they were in the White House – before her remarks because he had to get to work. Last month, Clinton said she opposes drilling in the U.S. Arctic, in a significant break from the Obama administration.
Her statement came after months of goading from environmentalists, who saw her silence on the Canada-to-Texas pipeline as damning. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland strongly oppose it. Vice President Joe Biden, who has not decided whether to run, has mostly kept his own counsel on the subject, in keeping with the administration’s wait-and-see approach.
Clinton’s announcement will thrill many progressive Democrats. O’Malley’s statement was a bit more combative: “Secretary Clinton has followed – not forged – public opinion…”
While the domestic political dynamics have been playing out, market forces – namely low oil prices and a glut of USA oil and gas – have made the pipeline less attractive for TransCanada as an investment.
Keystone became a presidential election issue within an instant of Clinton’s announcement.
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Earlier this year, the Republican-led Congress to a largely symbolic vote to force the approval of the pipeline, but Mr. Obama – as expected – vetoed the bill. “She favors environmental extremists over USA jobs”, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush tweeted.
