Professors at Syracuse University agree that the bipartisan congress has hindered movement on the decision of building the Keystone XL pipeline expansion.

President Barack Obama recently vetoed the bill that would allow construction to commence on the cross-border Keystone XL pipeline. Obama said in a statement released last Tuesday that the bill “cuts short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest.”

Donald Siegel, a professor of Earth sciences, Robert Wilson, an associate professor of geography, and Allan Mazur, a professor of public affairs, all agree that the president’s veto will not be overturned with a two-thirds majority vote.

The Daily Orange: What is your opinion of the Keystone XL pipeline?

Donald Siegel: My experience is with water pipelines. Logically, taking oil sands and taking oil away destroys the environment, making it very difficult to (remedy) it afterwards. There are local environmental problems when the oil is mined and serious environmental issues with respect to what happens to the environment after you’re done. There is a very minimal problem in terms of water supply being damaged. The reality is that there will be sensors along the pipeline. If there is a leak, some will get out, but not a massive spill.

Robert Wilson: I think it’s a bad idea mostly because of effects burning fossil fuels will have on climate change. In a time where we need to reduce our fossil fuel emissions, now is not the time to build infrastructures like the pipeline.

The D.O.: What’s your opinion on Obama’s veto of the bill?

R.W.: I agree with it. It was the right move to do. He is concerned with his legacy of climate change. He will be known as the president who did all he could to address that problem.

Allan Mazur: It’s bipartisan politics that has been going on in (Washington, D.C.) for the past three years. It is a brinksmanship type of issue. Take away the politics, it is a nonissue. We have all kinds of ways of transporting oil and a ton of other pipelines.

The D.O.: How did you react to the veto?

D.S.: I was disappointed. (Obama) claimed uncertainty of environmental effects, but in my opinion there is no uncertainty. I don’t think it takes too much effort to understand. It’s not rocket science to clear uncertainty.

The D.O.: What did you think of Speaker of the House John Boehner calling the veto a “national embarrassment?”

R.W.: Building the Keystone would be a step in the wrong direction. Obama has foresight that we have to move away from fossil fuels. Finally, there is a realization that we need to do something about climate change and stop drilling. It is part of a larger development of the climate movement.

A.M.: (Boehner) always says that kind of thing. It’s all just theater, all for the purpose of newspapers and television. Pick any contentious situation, it happens with all of them. I don’t agree with him. I think the Republican extremists are absurd.

The D.O.: What do you think of Obama exercising his veto power for the first time in five years?

R.W.: I think it’s good. It’s because of the inability of Democrats and Republicans to work together. Republicans are not willing to work with the president. We need to take a proactive approach. He’s never going to get cooperation from the Republicans. I think he’s going to be vetoing a lot more of them. You won’t see anything significant passed because the two parties are so polarizing they can’t come together.

Published on March 3, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Katelyn: kmfaubel@syr.edu