Obama urged to OK project to create jobsBy Rebecca Penty, Calgary Herald;With files from Postmedia NewsSeptember 7, 2011The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching a counterattack against opponents of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, who over the weekend wrapped up two weeks of daily protests outside the White House, during which more than 1,250 were arrested.Concerned environmental groups are dominating public discourse over TransCanada's project that would ship bitumen from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast, the prominent business group penned a letter to President Barack Obama and Congress advocating for its approval as a way to create jobs for some of the 25 million Americans who are unemployed, underemployed or who've given up looking for work.Enabling Keystone XL to be built is one of four priorities for the chamber under its section on producing more energy at home, part of a larger message for the president on supporting job growth as he prepares to deliver his economic speech on Thursday."Construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline connecting Canada to U.S. refineries in Texas would support 250,00 jobs, boost investment in the United States by $20 billion and generate government revenues totalling $585 million," chamber president and CEO Thomas Donohue wrote in the letter, sent Monday and released publicly on Tuesday.In the last couple of weeks, the Washington-based group has also quietly lined up business organizations across states through which Keystone XL would be built, including Montana, North Dakota and Nebraska, ahead of a series of public meetings later this month on the project that the U.S. State Department is hosting before it issues its final decision - expected by the end of this year.Late last month, the department said Keystone XL would not have significant environmental impact along its route, in a third and final environmental impact statement."Oftentimes, there are those who have a louder voice," said Matt Letourneau, spokesman of the chamber's energy institute.Read full article here.