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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Thursday, 08 Mar 2012 04:35 PM
Senate Democrats on Thursday defeated a Republican proposal to give a permit
to the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline in a vote that will give Republicans
more ammunition to criticize President Barack Obama's energy policies on the
campaign trail.
Republicans argue the pipeline, which would ship oil from Canada and
northern U.S. states to Texas, would create jobs and improve energy security
at a time of surging gasoline prices.
Obama put TransCanada's $7 billion project on hold earlier this year pending
further environmental review. He took the unusual step of calling some
senators personally ahead of the vote, asking them to reject the proposal.
"He understood that a majority of the American public, a majority at least
in the Senate, are strongly in favor of this project," said Senator Richard
Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, who
sponsored the bill to take control of the pipeline decision away from Obama.
The Republicans tried to advance their plan as an amendment to a highway
funding bill. It failed on a vote of 56-42, four short of the 60 needed to
pass, although 11 Democratic senators voted with the Republicans.
Republicans are using the proposal to highlight Obama's delay of the project
ahead of November presidential and congressional elections, linking his
decision to rising gasoline prices.
"We're going to continue this fight," said Republican Senator John Hoeven of
North Dakota, who championed the bill.
He told reporters he hoped the measure might still be attached to the
highway funding package when the Senate and House of Representatives work on
a final version.
"With gas prices going up every day, with what's going on in the Middle East
, I'll tell you what: the pressure is just going to increase on the
administration to get this project done," Hoeven said.
Obama has supported construction of the southern leg of the pipeline, and
his administration will assess a new route around an environmentally
sensitive area of Nebraska once it has been identified, said White House
spokesman Clark Stevens.
"Once again, Republicans are trying to play politics with a pipeline project
whose route has yet to be proposed," Stevens said. The entire project will
take more than two years to build once permits are granted.
GREEN GROUP: 'TEMPORARY VICTORY'
The Keystone amendment was among 30 measures - many of them energy-related -
being voted on as the Senate pushes in coming days to renew funding for
highways and other infrastructure projects, slated to run out at the end of
March.
Earlier, the Senate defeated proposals to expand the area available for
offshore oil drilling and extend the time for manufacturers to phase in new
pollution regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency for
industrial boilers.
But the Keystone amendment attracted the most attention. The pipeline would
carry crude from Canadian oil sands to Texas refineries and would also pick
up U.S. crude from North Dakota and Montana along the way.
Environmental groups have fought the project, staging large protests last
year that pressured the Obama administration to block approval.
"Today's vote was a temporary victory and there's no guarantee that it holds
for the long run," Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, said in a statement.
"We're grateful to the administration for denying the permit and for Senate
leadership for holding the line."
With a 34-64 vote, senators also defeated a proposal from Democratic Senator
Ron Wyden that would have blocked exports of oil from the pipeline, as well
as refined products made from that oil.
Wyden said lawmakers need to carefully think through projects that would
increase exports of oil, fuel and natural gas, lest the exports end up
boosting prices for Americans.
"This is just a step in what is clearly going to be an extensive debate,"
Wyden told Reuters after the vote.
Democratic senators who voted for the Republican Keystone plan included Max
Baucus and Jon Tester of Montana, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Bob Casey of
Pennsylvania, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jim Webb of Virginia.
Two Republican senators were absent, and all the 45 who were present voted
for the amendment. (Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro; editing by
Mohammad Zargham and Todd Eastham) |
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