THE House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, designed to pump oil from Canada to the US Gulf Coast, on Friday, Jan. 8.
Votes were counted 266-153 with 28 Democrats voting in support, despite the White House’s renewed pledge to veto the legislation after a Nebraska court removed a major obstacle.
Senate Republicans on Thursday, Jan. 8 advanced a bill with the Energy Committee approving the measure on a 13-9 vote, and will send it to the full Senate for consideration next week.
The bill has been a top priority in the GOP’s new campaign to push back President Barack Obama’s policies, now that they have full control of Congress.
Obama has threatened to veto the measure, setting up an early battle over the TransCanada Corp project that would link Canadian oil sands to refineries in Texas.
“Keystone is the largest shovel-ready infrastructure project in the country,” said new Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “So we’re going to send it to Obama, and hope he’ll sign it.”
The project attracted one Democratic vote on the panel, from West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who co-sponsored the Keystone legislation with Republican John Hoeven from North Dakota.
“By golly we need this oil. And I’d rather buy it from Canada than Venezuela,” Manchin said during a hearing before the panel vote.
Sixty-three senators support the measure, Hoeven said, which is four less than the 67 votes needed to override a veto. Backers of the project hope the full Senate will debate amendments that would create more Democratic support.
Democrats opposed to the pipeline have said they plan to introduce amendments in the full Senate that would require the XL pipeline to be built with US steel and to prevent the oil from ever being exported.
“This is oil that’s Canadian oil, the dirtiest and the way that it’s bought, extracted, causes incredible damage to the environment—and it’s for the international community,” said Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in an MSNBC interview.
The Republican-led House has already voted nine times to approve Keystone.
If President Obama vetoes the bill, lawmakers in the GOP will attempt to attach Keystone language to a must-pass spending bill, or other legislation the president would find difficult rejecting.
While Keystone remains an indicator of Obama’s energy policy, as well as a rousing issue for environmentalists, its practical near-term importance for the North American oil industry has slipped.
Before the drop in oil prices put Canada’s future oil sands growth in question, other major pipelines and growing oil-by-rail business emerged to meet the demand for rising output to ship to markets around the world.
The State Department has delayed deciding whether the project is in the country’s interest pending a court ruling in Nebraska over the Keystone pipeline’s route, which could take a few days or even months. If the bill upholds a lower court, TransCanada could face many more months of delays.
Along with other big-ticket issues on its political agenda, including health care and immigration law, the GOP also plans to write up legislation expediting US natural gas exports.
(With reports from Reuters, Washington Post)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend January 10-13, 2015 Sec. A pg.5)
