The U.S. Senate rejected a Republican plan to fast-track TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL oil pipeline, siding with President Barack Obama who says more time is needed to assess environmental impacts.
Republican measures to expand offshore drilling and delay for years new pollution standards for boilers used in paper plants and refineries also failed today in votes. A proposal by Democrats to bar export of Canadian crude carried by Keystone XL lost with 65 votes in opposition.
The measures were offered during debate on a transportation spending bill. Obama, who rejected a permit for the Keystone project in January saying a deadline imposed by Congress didn’t allow enough time to complete an environmental review, had called senators today urging them to oppose a quick approval for the pipeline.
“The Senate chose public health, clean air and clean energy over the polluter agenda pushed by Republican leaders,” Scott Slesinger, legislative director at the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. “These are major victories that should clear the way for the transportation bill that should never have been weighed down by these unrelated issues.”
Obama denied the U.S. State Department permit for the 1,661-mile (2,673-kilometer) pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to the U.S. Gulf Coast. An amendment by Senator John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican, would have authorized construction of the project and deemed it in compliance with environmental regulations. His amendment won 56 votes, including 11 Democrats, and fell short of the 60 needed for approval.
‘Other Opportunities’
Republicans will seek “other opportunities” to push the Keystone pipeline, Hoeven said today. “We’re very close to the 60” votes needed to pass the Senate, he told reporters in Washington after the vote.
“The chorus of bipartisan support for Keystone is growing,” Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s biggest trade group, said after the vote. “It’s time to approve Keystone XL and immediately put the president’s ‘all the above’ strategy in place to help create downward pressure on crude prices to the benefit of consumers.”
Republicans, including presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, said Obama’s denial of Keystone would cost U.S. construction jobs and lead to higher energy prices. They criticized the move as a sacrifice of jobs and energy supplies to please the president’s political allies.
‘Create Jobs’
Environmental groups and some labor unions that have supported Obama in the past oppose the pipeline. Obama called wavering Senate Democrats, including members from Midwestern states where the pipeline will create construction jobs, to lobby against the Hoeven amendment, according to a Democratic aide.
“It was very strong work by President Obama himself, making personal calls to Democrats,” Senator Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican, told reporters after the vote. “He understood that a majority of the American public and a majority at least of the Senate are strongly in favor of this project.”
The pipeline project would create about 20,000 temporary construction jobs, according to TransCanada. The number of employees needed to operate and maintain the pipeline may be as few as 20, according to the U.S. State Department, or as many as a few hundred, according to TransCanada.
Keystone Exports
Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, had proposed barring export of refined products derived from crude carried by the pipeline unless the president issued a waiver. The measure would have also required that, to the extent possible, iron and steel needed to build the pipeline be American-made.
Senators reached a deal last night to allow a final vote on a two-year, $109 billion transportation plan sponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat. The Senate will resume debate on the full bill next week. The House passed legislation forcing Keystone pipeline approval and opening new areas to offshore drilling last month.
Republican amendments taken up today included expanding offshore drilling, proposed by Senator David Vitter of Louisiana. Vitter’s amendment, which would have opened areas of the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast for oil and natural gas exploration, failed by a vote of 46 to 52, with 60 needed to approve.
‘Do Something’
“Let’s say yes to good, reliable U.S. energy,” Vitter said during debate. “Let’s say yes to increasing energy independence. Let’s do something about the rise of the price at the pump.”
Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins pushed for a measure that would halt pending environmental-pollution standards for boilers used in paper plants and refineries, and delay implementing new rules for at least five years. With 60 votes needed, it lost by a vote of 52 to 46.
The EPA’s efforts to cut pollution from boilers have been opposed by paper processors such as International Paper Co. (IP) and Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY), as well as refiners, manufacturers and some universities and hospitals. The rule, which may be finalized in the coming months, will cost $1.5 billion a year, making it one of the most expensive proposed by the EPA.
Wyden said EPA administrator Lisa Jackson had gone to “substantial lengths” to address companies’ concerns that they wouldn’t have enough time to meet the new air-pollution requirements. Boxer said the rules would ensure Americans breathe cleaner air.
