On Tuesday, President Obama vetoed the third bill to fall on his desk during his presidency. The bill, which carried Congress’ approval of the newly routed Keystone XL pipeline, failed at the pen in Obama’s hand, giving environmentalists and residents of where the new pipeline would lay a victory.

Although Congress has the power to override Obama’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote, it is unlikely it will be able to pull in the appropriate numbers to do so. The bill passed through the House, 270-152 and through the Senate, 62-36.

Obama talked about how he takes the “power of the presidential veto very seriously” when sending away the bill that could have created numerous amounts of jobs throughout the country. “But I also take seriously my responsibility to the American people,” Obama said, according to USA Today.

Republicans preach the idea that the pipeline will be beneficial because of all the jobs to be created. However, only 3,900 permanent construction jobs will be created, less than the amount produced each month by the American economy, according to a report from the State Department. However, a pipeline risk could be worth the cause.

More oil was spilled off of trains — the main transportation for oil in America — in 2013 than the previous four decades combined, according to an article in The Economist.

Currently, as Americans, we are living in a society where making the most amount of money puts us in the driver’s seat for prosperity. And while creating jobs is an extremely important part of Congress’ job, Obama’s job and the jobs of the state governments across the country, it is time to stop sacrificing the both physical and mental beauty of this country.

The trouble with this debate has become more political than anything. Republicans and Democrats have become so entranced by “the Keystone pipeline” debate, that many members of Congress have forgotten about the real battles out there, like battling ISIS or working toward higher education production.

The veto comes back to Republicans as a chance to say “Obama doesn’t want to create jobs. Oh what a bad man.” But the president made a brave and correct move by denying the pipeline to destroy the countryside. Your “from sea to shining sea” would have quickly been translated to “from sea to, hold on, around the natural degradation, shining sea.”

Yes, there are pros and cons to each side. But we, as Americans, have to decide what is really more important: creating a fraction of more jobs — less than ones the American economy is creating each day, according to The Economist — or keeping the natural integrity of the United States in tact.