Senate Republicans today unveiled a plan to force the Obama administration to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days — or make President Barack Obama publicly explain why he is blocking the project.
The measure, which is being spearheaded by Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could put Obama in a politically tough position on the eve of next year’s election, by forcing him to decide between environmentalists who oppose the pipeline and some labor unions that say it would create much-needed jobs.
GOP bill backers pitched their proposal as a plan to rev up the nation’s ailing economy while weaning the U.S. off Middle East oil. TransCanada Corp., has estimated that as many as 20,000 jobs could be tied to the construction and operation of the pipeline, although other forecasts put the numbers much lower — around 3,000.
Earlier this month, the State Department announced it would delay a final verdict on whether the $7 billion project is in the national interest until early 2013 in order to conduct an environmental analysis of an alternative route that would navigate the pipeline away from environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska.
Because the move effectively postponed a final verdict until after the 2012 election, McConnell accused the Obama administration of making a politically motivated decision that jeopardized the economic boost that would be tied to construction and operation of the 1,700-mile pipeline.
“With all this talk about jobs, we know there’s one major shovel ready project ready to go — and that’s Keystone,” McConnell said at a news conference touting the legislation. “If the administration would get out of the way, this project would create jobs immediately.”
The legislation introduced today would require the State Department to issue a Keystone XL within 60 days, unless the president publicly determines it is not in the national interest. The measure also aims to protect the planned rerouting of the project through Nebraska’s Sand Hills, by requiring the president to approve the state’s proposed alternative path, even once a permit has been issued.
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., stressed that the bill would preserve the ability of Nebraskans to rejigger the route — without holding up permitting and construction of the pipeline in other parts of the country.
“There will be this Nebraska process, but nothing prevents this work from beginning today,” Johanns said.
Environmentalists who oppose the Keystone XL pipeline blasted the measure.
“The bill would require the administration to rubber stamp the project in 60 days with no further review along a route that hasn’t even been determined yet,” said Anthony Swift, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “There isn’t even agreement on how significant the reroute will be – this bill would force the President to approve a route sight unseen.”
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would link oil sands development in Alberta (and projects in the Bakken formation in Montana) with a key pipeline terminal at Cushing, Okla. From there, it would run to Gulf Coast refineries.
An existing pipeline – known as Keystone – already exists in the U.S. and Canada, but because the proposed XL extension would cross the U.S.-Canada border, the Obama administration has an added role in permitting the project.
Environmentalists worry the pipeline would expand the marketplace and demand for oil sands crude that produces more greenhouse gas emissions over its entire life cycles – from production to combustion – than alternatives.
Nearly 40 Senate Republicans signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation introduced today, including Texans Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn.
“Congress is taking the reins and saying to the president: ‘Do this now, you don’t have to wait for Congress, you can get this pipeline going,’” Hutchison said.
Cornyn argued that the legislation would rightly force Obama to publicly proclaim whether Keystone XL’s potential economic and national security benefits justify the project. “This bill requires the president to decide whether or not that’s good enough for him, rather than allowing him to stall until after the election,” Cornyn said.
The measure faces long odds in the Democratically controlled Senate, where a similar effort already stalled earlier this year, after the House passed legislation that would have imposed a Nov. 1 deadline for a permitting decision.
Even if the new Senate bill also bogs down on Capitol Hill, supporters insist it is vital to highlight the importance of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Marty Durbin, the executive vice president of government affairs for the American Petroleum Institute, said the GOP push today is a reminder for the administration of the issues that are at stake.
“The legislative process is a critical piece of making clear again to the president and the administration how important this project is,” Durbin said in an interview. “There does need to be a continued drumbeat here to talk about the real opportunities and the benefits that this project is going to bring across the board.”
Durbin also argued that some Senate Democrats could eventually sign on to the legislation. “There’s great opportunity to build even more support in the Senate . . . on the Democratic side of the aisle,” Durbin said. “Just having our own conversations with Democratic offices, there’s frustration there as well.”
GOP lawmakers in the House, including Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska, now are considering writing another bill — like the Senate measure unveiled today — that would force a swift pipeline decision, but that effort is moving on a slower track. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is holding a hearing on the pipeline proposal Friday.
Senate bill to force permit decision on Keystone XL pipeline
What in the world can be envoirmentally sensitive in Nebraska?
I think the Repubs need to work on providing real jobs to this country, not the imaginary ones envisioned by oil producers. If it can be run along an existing pipeline route, as others have shown, that makes a lot more sense.
Nebraska has an area known as ‘The Sand Hills’ that the line was supposed to run through. The water table in this area is about a foot under the ground and people in Nebraska are concerned about a leak destroying their ground water. This is not an isolated area; it covers about 25% of the state.
For this reason the Republican ledge, which they call the Unicam, and the Republican Governor have fought this pipeline every inch of the way. Finally TransCanada said they would look for another route that bypassed the Sand Hills. No one knows where this route would run, so the Republicans in Nebraska are still waiting to see what TransCanada has come up with.
Nebraska is not that excited about the line since there will be almost no economic benefit to the state and, from their standpoint, great economic risks. If Obama OK’s the line before Nebraska has OK’ed it then it could still be many years before it is built.
@Rick – It’s called the Ogallala Aquifer, and it lies under nearly the entire state of Nebraska.
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“About 27 percent of the irrigated land in the United States overlies this aquifer system, which yields about 30 percent of the nation’s ground water used for irrigation. In addition, the aquifer system provides drinking water to 82 percent of the people who live within the aquifer boundary.”
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer
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Humans don’t need oil from tar sands to survive, but try going a few days without clean water and see how long you make it.
In what way are the jobs created through the pipeline project imaginary SaltWaterCroc? Is the pipeline magically going to build itself? Will some government agency snap their fingers and it will be done? Or better yet this administration pass another “Jobs Bill” to add jobs via government spending? I think not. It will be built by pipeline workers, engineers, surveyors, landmen, construction workers, truck drivers, and many others. These jobs are very real and will be provided by the oil industry.
SaltWaterCroc, obviously acting from a partisan impulse. The Keystone Pipeline is an infrastructure project that provides an easy access to oil, a valuable resource. It’s called wealth creation. It is creating a system that has value, as long as the oil flows. I don’t know what type of jobs you think are “real” if wealth-creating ones are not.
Would you rather that we sit this one out and let Canada make deals with other nations that want oil?
Obama is playing politics with this project, and he should be roundly condemned for it…. but he won’t be, of course… We need to rid ourselves of this anti-American Marxist menace.
That said.. how many other pipelines are there in the Sand Hills region???..a curiously missing piece of data. What about the Ogallala Aquifer…. You cannot tell me that these regions have no existing similar facilites passing through them. Safety and security must of course be of paramount concern, but this political gaming has got to cease; BHO needs to get off his dead #$% and decide.
Either way, there are thousands of underground pipelines in this country. This project is 1700 miles….. approve it , get started and address your Nebraska route adjustments.
We should have started forcing this project and others a long time ago. Tell Nebraska, no XL = no ethanol.
Obama lackey: “Mr. President, you really need to make a decision on this XL pipeline deal. The Republicans are raising a stink, and your environmentalist minions don’t believe you are serious about stopping it. You run the risk of alienating not only moderates and Republicans, but your leftist base as well. What are you going to do, Mr. President?”
President Obama: “Present.”