Rep. Mike Pompeo tells
Newsmax TV he is "sickened" by President Barack Obama's decision to reject the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and says the project was killed to please the "radical environmental left."
In announcing the pipeline project's demise, Obama said his decision was based on a recommendation by Secretary of State John Kerry that it was not in the national interest.
"[I'm] not surprised, but sickened. It's not just Secretary Kerry, it's [former Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton, too, who's now vying to be the next president of the United States," Pompeo, a Kansas Republican, said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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"All of them thought that a single pipeline that [Clinton's] own State Department concluded would have no environmental impact is not something they can allow to move forward."
Pompeo said the project not going forward will have a great economic impact for blue collar workers.
"Anybody who's ever tried to earn a check in a blue-collar business — I ran a machine shop — understands the importance of affordable energy here in America," Pompeo said.
"And to watch this administration suck up to the radical environmental left by destroying the chance to have more affordable energy around the world, I just find disgusting and deeply at odds with America's best interests."
Friday's announcement was swiftly condemned by a number of Republican candidates running for president.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida vowed to OK the pipeline if he wins the White House, saying on Twitter:
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tweeted:
Environmentalists have lobbied for years against the project, which was proposed by TransCanada Corp.
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