AJC Urges Obama to Approve Keystone Pipeline Project
22.05.12
NEW YORK, Dec. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC urged President Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline construction as a vital step for strengthening energy security, particularly crucial following recent threats by Iran to block a major oil supply channel.
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"As if to emphasize the need for urgent action, just this week, in direct response to pending U.S. economic sanctions, Iran threatened to blockade the Strait of Hormuz—a move that, if carried out, would have profound economic and strategic consequences," Harris wrote.
The latest sanctions were introduced after the International Atomic Energy Agency warned in its latest report that Iran is progressing toward nuclear weapons capability. In response, Iran's first vice president, Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil flows.
"As AJC wrote earlier to Secretary Clinton, we have long recognized the link between energy security and national security—and believe the United States must pursue a comprehensive, multifaceted energy policy targeted at substantially reducing dependence on oil from hostile or unstable foreign sources," AJC Executive Director David Harris wrote in a letter to President Obama. "The Keystone project will be a critical part of that broad-ranging approach."
Source: Sacramento Bee