Don’t ignore Canada

By Paul Chevalier

The Philadelphia Inquirer

When terrorists struck America 14 years ago, Canada had our back. At a moment’s notice, Prime Minister Jean Chretien fortified our shared border and safely ushered hundreds of planes into Canadian airports.

Today, though, the United States is turning its back on Canada.

The Obama administration has refused to approve TransCanada’s permit for Keystone XL, a proposed 1,179-mile pipeline linking Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf Coast. Yet the administration will soon lift restrictions on Iran’s oil exports as part of the Iran nuclear deal.

Put another way, the Obama administration is blocking Canadian oil exports while welcoming such exports from Iran. Such double-dealing weakens our relationship with Canada and threatens U.S. national security.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. By approving Keystone XL today, the Obama administration can ensure a safe America tomorrow.

Canada and the United States have enjoyed a strong security partnership since World War II. The two nations are currently engaged in a number of security efforts around the globe, including efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

They have also jointly monitored North American airspace for the past 50 years through the North American Aerospace Defense Command. This binational, one-of-a-kind agreement guards against suspicious aircraft, space vehicles and missiles.

Energy relationship

The two countries also have a mutually beneficial energy relationship. Canada supplies 97 percent of the United States’ natural-gas imports, which accounts for 11 percent of domestic consumption. And Canada buys $23 billion worth of energy products from America.

Rejecting TransCanada’s permit for Keystone XL would jeopardize this alliance, especially considering that incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls the pipeline “one of the most important projects of our generation.”

TransCanada has already begun looking into challenging a potential Keystone XL veto under the North American Free Trade Agreement, “which calls for unfettered U.S. access to Canada’s energy supply in exchange for Canadian access to the U.S market.”

But there’s no need to turn Keystone XL into a political fight. We can strengthen our relationship with Canada by approving the permit today.

Keystone XL would do wonders for North American energy independence. The pipeline would funnel 830,000 barrels of oil to U.S. producers daily. That amounts to more than 90 percent of the Venezuelan oil America purchased in 2012.

Further, building Keystone XL would put North America on track to single-handedly satisfy U.S. demand for liquid fuels by 2028. Given that the United States gets back 90 cents of every dollar spent on Canadian oil via cross-border trade, there’s not a smarter energy partnership on the planet.

But scrapping the pipeline means limiting the use of North American energy resources while unleashing Iran’s. That’s ill-advised. Cutting-edge technology has revealed that Iran has 50 million barrels of oil. These reserves threaten to drown a market whose oil prices have already reached six-year lows, especially given China’s weak demand recently. And Iran is ready to hit the market the second sanctions are lifted.

Paul Chevalier is a retired sergeant major of the Marine Corps and the chair of New Hampshire Vets4Energy. He wrote this for The Philadelphia Inquirer.