WHEREAS, The United States relies – and will continue to rely for many years – on gasoline, diesel and jet fuel despite the recent focus on renewable and alternative sources of energy, and

WHEREAS, In order to fuel our economy, the United States will need more oil and natural gas while also requiring additional alternative energy sources.

WHEREAS, The United States currently depends on foreign imports for more than half of its  petroleum usage, and is the largest consumer of petroleum in the world,  U.S. dependence on overseas oil has created difficult geopolitical relationships with potentially damaging consequences for our national security; and

 WHEREAS, oil  deposits in the Bakken Reserves of  Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota are an increasingly important crude oil resource; and  an estimated 11 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil, and there is not enough pipeline capacity for crude oil supplies from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas to American refineries; and

WHEREAS, Canadian oil reserves contain an estimated 173 billion barrels of recoverable oil; and . Canada is the single largest supplier of oil to the United States at 2.62 million barrels per day and has the capacity to significantly increase that rate; and

 WHEREAS, the Keystone XL pipeline will, when completed, carry 700,000 barrels of North American crude oil to American refineries in the Gulf Coast region; and

WHEREAS, construction of the project will create 120,000 jobs nationwide including 20,000 in construction and manufacturing, create $20 billion in economic growth and generate millions of dollars worth of government receipts; and

WHEREAS, A recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy found that increasing delivery of crude oil from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alberta, as well as Texas and Oklahoma to American refineries has the potential to substantially reduce our country’s dependency on sources outside of North America; and

WHEREAS, Canada sends more than ninety-nine  percent of its oil exports to the United States, the bulk of which goes to Midwestern refineries; and oil companies are investing huge sums to expand and upgrade refineries in the Midwest and elsewhere to make gasoline and other refined products from Canadian oil derived from oil sands; and the expansion and upgrade projects will create many new construction jobs over the next five years and  substantially add to the gross product of [insert state] ; and

 WHEREAS, Ninety percent of the money used to buy Canadian oil will likely later be spent directly on U.S. goods and services in contrast with increasing the trade relationship with unstable regions. Supporting the continued shift towards reliable and secure sources of North American oil is of vital interest to the United States and the state of {insert state}.

 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the members of the {insert legislative body} of the state of {insert state}, support continued and increased development and delivery of oil derived from North American oil reserves to American refineries; urge Congress to support  continued and increased development and delivery of oil from Canada to the United States;, and urge Congress to ask the U.S. Secretary of State to approve the Keystone XL pipeline project that has been awaiting a presidential permit since 2008  to ensure America’s oil independence, improve our national security, reduce the cost of gasoline, create new jobs, and strengthen ties between the United States and Canada ; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the {insert legislative body} transmit duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, to the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of the United States Senate, to the members of the {insert state) Congressional delegation, and to the news media of {insert state}.

Approved by ALEC Board of Directors on January 2012.