Obama Would Probably Veto Keystone Bill, Senators Say
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U.S. President Barack Obama has stopped short of saying he would veto the bill... Read More
A measure approving construction of the pipeline appears to be at least one vote short of the 60 it would need to pass a procedural vote in the Senate, Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chamber’s second-ranking Democrat, said today on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
Pipeline supporters “were one vote short as we left last week, but I know they’re burning up the phone lines and e-mails trying to find that vote to support the procedural move,” Durbin said. “I don’t know how successful they’ve been.”
The Senate is set to vote Nov. 18 on the pipeline, which would link Canada’s oil sands with refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Environmental groups say the pipeline would increase greenhouse gas emissions; supporters say it would create thousands of jobs.
The pipeline needs a permit from the U.S. State Department because it would cross an international border. The department has been reviewing the project for six years.
“Every indication is the president will veto an attempt to pre-empt the regular process of reviewing the permit for this pipeline,” Durbin said.
Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said a measure approving construction of... Read More
“I hope and expect that he will,” he said.
Veto Possible
Obama has stopped short of saying he would veto the bill while raising questions about the pipeline and saying Congress shouldn’t short-circuit the approval process.“We’re going to let the process play itself out and the determination will be made in the first instance by the Secretary of State,” Obama said today at a news conference in Brisbane, Australia, at the conclusion of a week-long trip to Asia.
“But I won’t hide my opinion about this, which is that one major determinant of whether we should approve a pipeline shipping Canadian oil to world markets, not the United States, is does it contribute to the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change,” Obama said.
The Senate bill is co-sponsored by Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu, who leads the Energy committee and whose state stands to gain if the pipeline is built. She has been pushing for Senate approval to build support back home as she faces a Dec. 6 runoff election against Republican Representative Bill Cassidy. An identical bill sponsored by Cassidy passed the Republican-led House 252-161 on Nov. 14, with 31 Democrats voting yes.
‘Cynical Attempt’
Democrats blocked earlier proposals to force approval of the pipeline.“This is a cynical attempt to save a Senate seat in Louisiana,” Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican in the chamber, said on Fox. “If the Democrats were serious about this, they would have voted on this years ago. This thing’s been hanging around for six years.”
Russ Girling, the chief executive officer of Calgary-based TransCanada, said today that there’s a “high probability” that the pipeline will be built.
“Our shippers have not wavered one bit over the last six years. They still want this to happen, and as long as they’re there, we’re going to continue to push to make it happen,” Girling said on ABC’s “This Week” program.
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