Keystone XL advances in U.S. Senate, faces Obama veto

Keystone XL advances in U.S. Senate, faces Obama veto
By Timothy Gardner and Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON Thu Jan 29, 2015 2:03pm EST



A depot used to store pipes for Transcanada Corp's planned Keystone XL oil pipeline is seen in Gascoyne, North Dakota November 14, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Andrew Cullen




(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate will likely pass a bill approving the long-pending Keystone XL oil pipeline on Thursday, a measure the White House said President Barack Obama would veto.



Republicans have made approving Keystone their top priority of the new Congress after winning control of the Senate in November. But they are several votes shy of the 67 needed in the 100-member chamber to override any veto.



The project cleared a hurdle on Thursday as senators voted 62-35 to limit debate on the bill. The Senate will vote after 2:30 p.m. EST on the final bill that would bypass the Obama administration's review of Keystone.



Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Keystone would be good for the middle class and "pump billions" of dollars into the economy.

Obama has raised new questions about the number of jobs it would create and said that Keystone would mainly benefit the company that wants to build the pipeline, TransCanada Corp, not U.S. gasoline consumers.



While the project would create thousands of temporary construction jobs, a State Department report said less than 40 workers would be needed to permanently operate Keystone XL.

Obama wants the State Department to finish determining whether the pipeline is in the national interest, but backers say the six-year-plus approval process has gone on too long. The project would bring more than 800,000 barrels per day of heavy oil from Alberta and light U.S. crude to Nebraska en route to refineries on the Gulf Coast.



The House of Representatives has voted nine times to approve the project. Aides to House leaders did not immediately answer questions about whether the chamber would vote to pass the Senate bill or if it would go into conference talks.



Obama is expected to make his own decision soon on Keystone. The State Department has told other federal agencies they have until Feb. 2 to conclude their assessment of the project.



Even if Obama decides to oppose the pipeline, Republicans will keep pushing. Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, a sponsor of the bill, plans to attach a measure to a spending bill or other legislation later in the year that Obama would find hard to reject. "There will be other opportunities," Hoeven told reporters after the preliminary vote.



(Editing by Matthew Lewis)



http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/29/us-usa-keystone-idUSKBN0L224V20150129

ByRebecca KaplanCBS NewsJanuary 29, 2015, 4:27 PM

Senate approves Keystone XL oil pipeline





Last Updated Jan 29, 2015 4:38 PM EST
Supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline were able to secure enough votes to pass a bill to begin construction on the pipeline Thursday, though they still fall short of the 67 that would be needed to override a presidential veto.

The bill passed with 62 votes Thursday after days of votes on amendments to end the measure. The House, which passed its own bill to fast track construction of the pipeline in January, must either pass the Senate version or reconcile the two bills before legislation can be sent to the White House.

President Obama has promised to veto the bill, questioning the number of jobs it would create and saying the State Department should have time to finish its review of the pipeline. The bill also did not get enough votes in the House to get past the two-thirds threshold necessary to overturn a veto.

• House passes Keystone bill
  
  

"We're hoping the president, upon reflection, will agree to sign onto a bill that State Department says could create up to 42,000 jobs, his State Department says creates little or no impact on the environment," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said Thursday. The State Department has also said that fewer than 40 people would be employed long-term to support the pipeline, a statistic frequently cited by the bill's opponents.

That was the argument of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, at a press conference ahead of the vote Thursday.


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Chuck Schumer: Keystone is not a jobs bill

"Right out of the gate, the first act of the new Republican majority was to pass a special-interest bill that's a giveaway to foreign oil and steel companies and will do nothing to benefit the American people," Schumer said. "How can they argue that a bill that constructs a pipeline to carry the dirtiest oil from Canada through the heartland of the United States only to be exported abroad will benefit the middle class? Well they can't with a straight face."

In a statement, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, echoed McConnell, calling the Keystone bill a "common-sense bill that would strengthen our energy security and create thousands and thousands of new, good-paying American jobs.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, told reporters that the Senate would likely try to attach Keystone to other energy legislation if Mr. Obama vetoes the legislation.

Nine Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the bill: Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Tom Carper of Delaware, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jon Tester of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia.

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