EnergyHouse will see floor battle today over Keystone XL pipeline

Republican and Democrats lawmakers are set to engage in a fierce battle on the House floor over the fate of the Keystone XL project.

Representative Lee Terry’s (R-Nebraska) proposed legislation to allow TransCanada to start construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which runs from Hardisty, Canada through seven states to Houston, Texas. The bill will come to the House floor today.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that the House is expected to approve the bill, but the White House has already suggested that President Barack Obama will veto the bill, citing “longstanding executive branch procedures regarding the authority of the president, the secretaries of state, the interior, and the Army, and the EPA administrator.”

Representative Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas), a co-sponsor of Terry’s bill, said the opposition to the legislation is pure politics.

“The Keystone XL Pipeline has become the ‘shiny object’ that the hyperpartisan Left uses as a litmus test for President Obama’s commitment to the radical green agenda,” Pompeo said in an e-mail.

“Fact is, hundreds of miles of pipelines have been built these past few years in the United States and there are also many pipelines crossing the U.S.-Canada border,” Pompeo added.

Democrats are planning on fighting the bill during a ninety minute debate session.

Supporters of the bill say it will create hundreds of jobs and make the United States less dependent on foreign oil. Opponents say the jobs will be temporary, not permanent, most of the oil will be exported, and the Pipeline could have a significant environmental impact during construction and in the event of a leak.

Larry Farnsworth, a spokesman for Terry, acknowledged that some of the oil will be exported, but insisted the pipeline will be a positive for the economy.

“The fact of the matter is that those refining jobs down in the gulf coast and the jobs that would be supported with the actual building of the Keystone Pipeline are good, high-paying jobs, and they would contribute greatly to those local economies,” Farnsworth told reporters.

Republican supporters of the bill are ready to engage in debate over the export provisions and amendments to the bill.

“If House Democrats, supported by President Obama, want to oppose the jobs, economic growth, and energy security provided by the construction of the Keystone Pipeline, that is a debate we are happy to have,” a House leadership aide told reporters.

Democrats have nine amendments to offer to the bill, including Representative Bobby Rush’s (D-Illinois) amendment to add language to the bill that will eliminate provisions limiting court challenges to the construction of the pipeline. Environmentalist groups are planning to file lawsuits if the pipeline is approved.