Murkowski Keystone XL bill clears committee, heads for Senate floor

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee marked up and approved Chair Lisa Murkowski’s bill approving construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The 13-9 vote sends the measure to the full Senate, which is expected to debate and vote on it next week.

The US House of Representatives is expected on Jan. 9 to vote on an identical bill Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced on Jan. 6.

Republicans control both houses in the 114th Congress. They appear intent on sending a finished bill to US President Barack Obama despite White House Press Sec. Josh Earnest’s statement that it would not be signed (OGJ Online, Jan. 6, 2015).

The Energy and Commerce Committee’s 13-to-9 vote was largely along party lines, with Joe Manchin (W.Va.) the only Democrat to join Republican members in supporting it.

“Congress is listening to the American people and is acting in bipartisan fashion to approve the Keystone XL pipeline,” the American Petroleum Institute said following the committee’s action.

“We urge members from both sides of the aisle to push ahead despite the veto threat,” its statement continued. “The country needs to see that Washington is working together to get things done, despite obstacles from the executive branch.”

The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, and seven other environmental organizations jointly condemned congressional Republicans’ efforts to get TransCanada Corp.’s proposed 1,179-mile pipeline from Hardisty, Alta., to Steele City, Neb., approved.

“Republican attempts to push Keystone XL amount to nothing more than symbolic gestures meant to prove their allegiance to their friends in the oil industry who have spent millions in campaign contributions to see their climate denial agenda pushed forward,” they said in a statement.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].