The US Senate on Tuesday rejected by a single vote a bill that would have approved construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to bring crude oil to Gulf coast refineries from Canada’s controversial tar sands.
Rejection of the US$5.3 billion project came by the narrowest of margins and Republicans immediately vowed to approve the bill early next year when the new Congress convenes with them in control of the Senate.
Tuesday’s vote relieves US President Barack Obama — at least for now — of the potential headache of vetoing the measure, as he recently has signaled several times over the past week that he might do.
Photo: AFP
Supporters of the long-delayed project, a top Republican energy priority that has become a political football, came up one vote short of the 60 needed for approval in the 100-member chamber.
Many of the 45 Republicans who supported the bill, as well as some of the 14 Democrats who voted with them, described Keystone XL as a “no-brainer” that would generate thousands of jobs and improve US energy independence.
However, critics, led by Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, fiercely oppose the initiative over concerns that it would harm the environment.
Top Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said afterwards: “Senate Democrats once again stood in the way of a shovel-ready jobs project that would help thousands of Americans find work — a remarkable stance after an election in which the American people sent a clear message to Congress, to approve serious policies.”
“But once the 114th Congress convenes, the Senate will act again on this important legislation, and I look forward to the new Republican majority taking up and passing the Keystone jobs bill early in the New Year,” he said.
TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, was similarly buoyant.
“We will continue to push for reason over gridlock, common sense over symbolism and solid science over rhetoric to approve Keystone XL and unlock its benefits for America,” chief executive Russ Girling said.
The rejection was a victory for environmental groups and their supporters, including Boxer, the California senator who led Democratic opposition to the pipeline.
Boxer, who warned of tar-sand “poison” and “misery” afflicting US communities, stood on the Senate floor before a photograph of Chinese men wearing face masks under a gray haze.
“I remember the days in Los Angeles when the air looked like this,” Boxer said. “I don’t want it to look like what it looks like in China.”
After the vote she said the bill’s opponents “stood up for what is right — protecting the health of families and the health of the planet.”
Republicans in Congress have long pushed the Obama administration to lift its hold on the corporate-funded project, which remains under extended review about six years after permit requests were submitted.
The pipeline easily passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last week, as it has several times before.
The 59-41 Senate vote — the most contentious action in the chamber since Republicans roared to victory in the midterm elections earlier this month — came down to the wire, with supporters scrambling in vain for a final Democrat to sign on.
“Congress is not — nor should it be — in the business of legislating the approval or disapproval of a construction project,” independent Senator Angus King said of the pipeline that would transport 830,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta province to US refineries.
The US Department of State, which has authority over Keystone because of its international link, released a review in January finding that carbon emissions would not be significant.
Obama has said he would only approve Keystone if it was shown to have minimal carbon emissions impact.
Critics argue that tar-sand bitumen is some of the world’s dirtiest oil.
However, Republicans tout Keystone’s generation of 40,000 temporary construction jobs. The Department of State says only 35 permanent jobs will result.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese