Senate Begins 2015 With Keystone XL Pipeline Legislation

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed that the passage of the Keystone XL pipeline will be one of the first Senate votes in the 114^th Congress.  This is good news because the project has been delayed for several years by the Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Senate.  According to Politico, “Sen. John Hoeven will officially file legislation on Tuesday to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline, with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin as his new main Democratic co-sponsor.” This is good news for the U.S. economy and all Americans.

The proposed construction of the pipeline provides the capacity to move more than 700,000 barrels of oil each day. The increased production would provide thousands of jobs and help lower energy costs for working families nationwide:

Job estimates related to the pipeline have varied from 6,000 to 20,000. TransCanada, the company building the proposed pipeline, estimates the Keystone XL project will support 9,000 U.S. jobs through early 2015. Regardless of the exact number, the pipeline will bring billions of dollars in economic activity and tax revenues to the U.S. economy.

The Senate is likely to pass the bill, but the question remains if President Obama will veto the Keystone XL legislation if Congress does in fact send it to his desk.

A veto by President Obama, which would continue to delay of the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, would be detrimental to the goal of energy independence and lowering energy costs in the United States.

What is really confusing about the President’s opposition to Keystone XL is that he’s already used his authority to remove some of the barriers to the building of the pipeline. In March of 2012, ABC News’ Devin Dwyer reported on how the administration cut some of the ‘red tape’ in the southern part of the proposed project:

During a visit to Cushing, Okla., on Thursday, President Obama will announce an Executive Order requiring expedited permitting and review of “vital infrastructure projects,” including the southern portion of the controversial Keystone pipeline.

The ongoing delay of a final decision by the Obama administration on the Keystone XL pipeline seems to be mostly about politics, not policy. After years of stalling, the Senate and House appear to be ready to force President Obama to make a decision. A veto of this legislation would once again show that the administration is simply playing politics with jobs and energy production when the goal should be more jobs and lower energy prices. TPA supports the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and urges Congress and the White House to move forward and approve the project.