WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate energy and environment committees, issued the following statement today after President Barack Obama vetoed a bill to allow construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline:

“I applaud the president for vetoing the Keystone pipeline bill. This veto tells the world that our nation takes seriously the planetary crisis of global warming and that we will not support legislation that would let a Canadian oil company ship some of the dirtiest oil on the planet across the United States.

“Climate change is real, it is caused by human activity and it is already causing devastating problems. Our job now is to aggressively transform our energy system away from fossil fuels into energy efficiency and sustainable energy. I urge my Senate colleagues to sustain the president’s veto.”