American Jewish Committee Backs Keystone Pipeline

By JTA November 19, 2014

The American Jewish Committee urged President Obama to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, virtually alone among Jewish groups in endorsing the project.

“The Keystone XL pipeline is critically important for U.S. energy security, our economy and relations with Canada, our neighbor and ally,” Richard Foltin, AJC’s director of national and legislative affairs, said Wednesday in a statement.

Obama opposes the pipeline, heeding environmentalists who say its tar extraction methods damage the environment.

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the pipeline, and an effort to pass a Senate bill, also backed by the AJC, failed Tuesday by a single vote.

Other Jewish groups have not weighed in on the pipeline.

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