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Senate pipeline bill a necessity Senate Bill 173 needs to become law for some very simple reasons. Georgia motorists need gasoline. Our farmers need fuel for their equipment. Truckers need diesel to deliver their goods. Jets need fuel to fly. Today, 70 percent of these fuels are delivered to Georgia by Colonial Pipeline, which during the busy summer-driving and winter-heating seasons cannot fulfill all the demands we make. By 2010, these shortages will no longer be seasonal; they will be a daily reality. The most reasonable and environmentally safe answer is to add a new pipeline adjacent to two pipelines Colonial currently operates. It is a multi-state $41 billion project that - despite what you may read - must obey all Georgia's laws on eminent domain and obtain all required environmental permits. This project is a public necessity. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agreed last summer and ruled in favor of the expansion. To quote the FERC: "Colonial has demonstrated that the expansion is needed and that the expansion will ensure the reliable transportation of refined petroleum product..." Gov. Perdue's Energy Policy Council completed its study in 2006 by recommending the state consider removing impediments to the expansion of the Colonial system. Every citizen and every visitor to Georgia needs to see this project completed. Others interested in assuring the state has an adequate energy infrastructure also back Senate Bill 173. Delta Air Lines and the AgriBusiness Council understand that investments made by Colonial today will serve the state's needs for the next 20 years and help prevent shortages and higher prices. The bill contains no special privileges for any pipeline. It removes unnecessary and redundant hurdles in very limited and specific situations. The rights of private property owners and the natural beauty of the environment can be protected and the state's energy needs still be met. The bill does that. Without the bill, this project will be delayed or cancelled altogether.
Without it, Georgians can look forward to the price spikes and shortages that occurred after the hurricanes of 2005. Except this time, the high prices and shortages will be permanent.
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