On the recordNovember 18, 2014
To me, all of these health reasons are reason enough to say let's not interrupt what the administration is going through now, which is careful study of whether this is safe for our people. Two million people sent in their comments. Don't shortcut that. Then there is the whole issue of the climate. We know this tar sands oil is far more carbon intensive and it is going to hurt our planet, and we want to have a planet that is habitable for our children and our grandchildren and generations to come. I embrace this debate. I think it is an important debate to have. But we really have to ask ourselves the question: Is it worth exposing our people to these risks, with whom I stood shoulder to shoulder, and is it worth exposing the planet to these risks when we can create millions of jobs in a clean energy economy as we are doing in my State? And we are going gangbusters. I thank my colleagues, and I say to the people from Louisiana, they could not have a better fighter. We are in the ring together and it is tough, but that is the beauty of the Democratic Party, that we are an inclusive party. I yield my time.
