President Obama has vetoed a Congressional bill that would have legislated approval of the controversial Keystone Pipeline and bypassed State Department review.

The following is a statement by Earthjustice Vice President of Policy and Legislation Marty Hayden:

“We commend and applaud President Obama and his administration for courageously choosing the right path for our country. The President was right to veto Congress’s attempt to bypass State Department review and force approval of the Keystone Pipeline.

“Climate change is too real of a threat and too costly of a problem for us to make dangerous and short-sighted decisions like building tar sands pipelines or investing in any other form of extreme energy.

“Our country doesn’t need extreme and dirty tar sands energy, and putting our own communities in harm’s way so that we can export tar sands oil out of our country should be out of the question.

“The decision to reject the tar sands pipeline bill is a decision that puts our communities and national interest above the corporate polluter special interests who are calling the shots in this new Congress.

“Our children and their future will reap the rewards of today’s good decision.”