Roskam support of Keystone XL antithesis of environmental sanity

In his March 6, Glen Ellyn Suburban Life op ed (Time to move forward with Keystone XL) my Congressman Peter Roskam's latest promotion of the XL Keystone Pipeline is further evidence of his radical approach to the environmental crisis endangering the planet, including all seven billion of us trapped in the carbon hothouse Roskam promotes. Here we are in 2014, with a Congressman squarely in the camp of the global warming deniers who scoff at the 97% of scientists clamoring for all countries to address our fossil fuel obsession spelling our doom. All you'll find at www.roskam.house.gov is Drill, Baby, Drill. It is laughable Roskam would cite an Obama administration State Department report green lighting Keystone when he  dismisses and denigrates virtually every Obama administration missive on policy ranging from the Affordable Health Care Act, need to raise the minimum wage, green jobs creation programs, immigration reform, violence against women legislation, extending jobless benefits to long term unemployed, and others.

Since when is the State Department the last word on the environment? Many studies by responsible environmental agencies detail the precise opposite of State's alleged Keystone benign ness. Oil Change International, a US based environmental group, argues that none of the future energy use scenarios in the State Department study would put the U.S. on a path to meeting stated climate goals. "The State Department is assuming failure in meeting our climate goals," said Steve Kretzmann, the group's executive director. "They're not modeling a climate-safe world." The Carbon Tracker Initiative is a nonprofit that focuses on how carbon budgets interact with financial markets. It disputes State's sanguine outlook about Keystone XL, arguing it will cause the US to fail to meet its goal of cutting carbon emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, the goal the US established during international climate negotiations. But leave it to Roskam's Congressional colleague Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Senator and Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, to speak sanity to Roskam's delusional denial of the climate crisis. "Keystone isn't any normal pipeline. It would pump tar sands oil, one of the dirtiest fuels on Earth. Adding more tar sands oil to our energy mix would accelerate climate change, put our health at risk for generations, and tarnish our international reputation. Beyond Keystone's costs to our economy and health is the real cost of failing to lead the charge on climate change. Last year, President Obama's Climate Action Plan set the goal of galvanizing international action to significantly reduce emissions. That means doing the hard work of convincing the international community to cut carbon pollution. Allowing Keystone to pollute our air and harm our businesses and communities for generations would only discourage the sort of action the President called for."

Congressman Roskam's shallow nostrums pooh-poohing the despoiling of America with the dirtiest fossil fuel extant are not conservative. His is a radical vision whose time has past...even as Roskam strives to pass the sixteen terms of his predecessor in Illinois's Sixth. Maybe it time for Peter Roskam to step aside for a 21st century vision on the greatest crisis we face. Surely, the billionaire Koch Brothers have a fat lobbying job available for a man of great influence...and myopia.