The US House of Representatives passed a bill to approve building the Keystone XL oil pipeline in defiance of US President Barack Obama, who on Friday challenged supporters’ arguments the pipeline will help the US economy.
The Republican-led House approved the measure 252-161 with 31 Democrats in support. The bill will be considered in the US Senate on Tuesday, where it faces a higher hurdle in the Democratic-led chamber. Obama could still veto a bill if it passes the Senate.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said he thinks Keystone will ultimately be built.
“You just had an election where the people are asking Congress to find common ground,” McCarthy said. “And it provides jobs. So I’m feeling very positive about it.”
TransCanada Corp’s Keystone became the first major topic for Congress’ lame-duck session after Democratic US Senator Mary Landrieu, facing a Dec. 6 runoff in Louisiana, proposed a vote on her bill to bypass the government review and approve the pipeline. Until now, majority Democrats had blocked a similar measure to circumvent the administration.
That prompted House Republicans to schedule Friday’s vote on identical legislation sponsored by US Representative Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and Landrieu’s challenger for the last undecided Senate seat.
Before the House vote, Obama offered his most pointed comments yet on the pipeline, directly challenging Republican claims the project would create a significant number of jobs and would lower gasoline prices.
Environmentalists criticized the House action.
“The vote supported a destructive project with no redeeming value for anyone other than TransCanada,” Luisa Abbott Galvao, a climate and energy associate with Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, said in a statement.
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