United States Department of State

1 1 2 1 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2 Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Project 3 PUBLIC COMMENT MEETINGS 4 5 Tuesday, September 27, 2011 6 Pershing Center 7 226 Centennial Mall South 8 Lincoln, Nebraska 68508 9 10 The Keystone XL Public Comment Meeting convened 11 at 12 o'clock noon before a Panel: 12 TERESA HOBGOOD, U.S. Department of State, 13 presiding officer. 14 MICHAEL STEWART, U.S. Department of State, 15 presiding officer. 16 2 1 2 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 MS. HOBGOOD: Hello and good afternoon. 3 My name is Teresa Hobgood, and I am from 4 the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. My 5 colleague, Michael Stewart and I are here today to 6 listen to your comments regarding the national 7 interest determination for the proposed Keystone XL 8 pipeline. 9 On behalf of the Department of State, we 10 would like to thank the people of Nebraska for 11 joining us at this public meeting in Lincoln. We 12 recognize that this is an important issue, and we 13 value your input. We also would like to thank the 14 Pershing Center for agreeing to host the meeting. 15 The purpose of this meeting is for you, 16 members of the public, whether you are a farmer or 17 scientist, to express your views on whether issuing a 18 Presidential Permit for the proposed Keystone XL 19 pipeline is in the national interest. To focus time 20 and attention on your comments, we will not be 21 answering questions at this or other public meetings 22 in South Dakota, Kansas, Montana, Texas and 3 1 2 1 Washington, D.C. 2 Before we begin, we would like to describe 3 the Department of State's role in the Presidential 4 Permitting process and lay out the ground rules for 5 participating in this meeting. 6 With regard to the role of the Department 7 of State, in September of 2008, TransCanada Keystone 8 Pipeline, LP filed an application for a Presidential 9 Permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. 10 Executive Order 1337, signed on April 30, 2004, 11 delegates to the Department of State the authority to 12 issue a Presidential Permit for facilities such as 13 the Keystone XL pipeline that cross the U.S. border. 14 In considering a permit, the Department of 15 State determines whether allowing the border crossing 16 is in the U.S.' national interest, taking into 17 account environmental and safety issues as well as 18 energy security, foreign policy, and social and 19 economic concerns. 20 In addition to the Executive Order, the 21 Department determined, because of the importance of 22 the proposed pipeline, that it should evaluate the 4 1 2 1 pipeline's possible environmental and safety impacts, 2 consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act 3 or NEPA. 4 As a consequence, the State Department 5 prepared an environmental impact statement or EIS 6 consistent with NEPA to evaluate the proposed 7 pipeline's potential environmental and safety 8 impacts. In preparing the EIS over the past two and 9 a half years, we have conducted some 41 public 10 meetings along the pipeline route, and in Washington, 11 D.C. to gather public comments in developing the 12 scope and draft of the EIS. 13 On August 26th we released the final EIS, 14 which addresses the more than 250,000 comments from 15 the public comment period. The Final EIS is just one 16 factor considered in the review process. It does not 17 represent a final decision on the permit application. 18 Now as we move into the national interest 19 determination phase, the Department of State is 20 compiling additional information to determine if the 21 proposed Keystone XL pipeline is in the national 22 interest and decide whether to grant or deny the 5 1 2 1 permit. 2 Now turning to the ground rules for this 3 public meeting. We hope to have the opportunity to 4 listen to everyone who wishes to speak; and in order 5 to allow the maximum amount of participation, we ask 6 you to limit your comments to no more than three to 7 five minutes. And because of the number of people 8 who have signed up to speak, we really encourage you 9 to limit your remarks to three minutes. The amount 10 of time you will be allowed to comment will 11 ultimately depend on the number of people who have 12 signed up to share their points of view. 13 Given the strong interest in this issue, 14 it may not be possible for everyone who would like to 15 speak to do so. If you do not have that opportunity, 16 you can turn in your remarks today. I think there's a 17 cardboard box on the stage where you can drop your 18 prepared remarks if you don't have the opportunity to 19 deliver them. You can also provide your written 20 remarks on the back of the sheet of paper that was 21 handed to you when you entered the room; and you can 22 also submit your written comments via mail, fax, 6 1 2 1 e-mail or on line. The handout you received provides 2 all of the instructions you need for the submission 3 of written comments. Written comments will be 4 accepted through October 9 of this year. 5 With the exception of any elected 6 officials who wish to speak, speakers will make their 7 comments on a first-come, first served basis by sign 8 in number. When your number is called, we ask you to 9 come to the microphone, state your name and 10 affiliation, and off your comments. If you have an 11 even number please line up in the aisle on my left, 12 and if you have an odd number, please line up on the 13 aisle to my right. 14 As you speak, you will be timed. Again, 15 our goal is to provide at least three minutes per 16 person; but it could be less depending on the number 17 of speakers. A card will be displayed when you have 18 one minute remaining and when your time is up. 19 We respectfully request you to finish your 20 comments in the allotted time. If you go beyond your 21 allotted time, it is possible that your microphone 22 will be turned off, but that will be done as a last 7 1 2 1 resort. 2 Let me reiterate that Department of State 3 officials are here to listen. We will not be 4 engaging in a question and answer session. We 5 understand there are strong views on both sides of 6 this issue, and ask that in fairness to everyone, 7 those who choose to speak be allowed to do so without 8 interruption. 9 All oral and written comments will be 10 considered as part of our Record of Decision, and 11 will be reviewed by the Department of State during 12 the decision-making process. All comments made here 13 will be transcribed by our official reporter. 14 We plan on taking a break at 3:30 p.m. We 15 may need to take a break at 2 o'clock for the 16 reporter, so that he can get up and stretch; it's 17 quite a chore for him to sit and take comments for 18 such a long period of time. And so if we can give 19 him five minutes at 2 p.m., I'm sure he'd appreciate 20 it. 21 After the break at 3:30 p.m. we will 22 resume the public meeting at 4 o'clock. 8 1 2 1 Again, we wish to stress that the 2 Department of State has not yet made a decision on 3 this matter. Thank you for your interest and for 4 coming to this meeting. We'd like to start the 5 proceedings now with the first speaker. 6 Will you come to the microphone and state 7 your name and affiliation. 8 MR. WHATLEY: Good afternoon. My name is 9 Michael Whatley, I'm the Executive Vice President for 10 Consumer Energy Alliance. CEA is made up of more 11 than 250,000 individuals and over 165 affiliate 12 organizations that represent every sector of the U.S. 13 economy, including truckers, highway users and 14 shippers, manufacturers, iron and steel producers, 15 farmers and chemical manufacturers and energy 16 producers. 17 CEA strongly supports the Keystone XL 18 people because of the economic benefits it will 19 provide. Not only to Nebraska but to the nation as a 20 whole. The pipeline will create more than 7,500 jobs 21 in Nebraska and over 120,000 jobs total across the 22 United States. Even more, this project will generate 9 1 2 1 over $11 million in state and local taxes for 2 Nebraska, and create $20 billion in economic growth 3 nationwide. That's a lot of money that will go to 4 improving schools, roads and hospitals. 5 The Keystone XL pipeline project will also 6 strengthen our national security. Canada is our 7 neighbor, our ally and our largest trading partner. 8 The 700,000 barrels of oil per day that this pipeline 9 will bring to the Gulf Coast refineries will be 10 coming from places like Oklahoma, Montana, the 11 Dakotas, and Canada.

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