2/13/2015
Congress Approves Controversial Keystone Pipeline Setting Obama Up for Veto
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives has approved by a large majority the controversial construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, confirming the challenge sent by the Republican opposition to President Barack Obama, who has warned of using his veto power against the project.
Wednesday’s vote, with 270 in favor and 152 against, was supported by the Republican majority in the lower house of Congress.
The proposal had already been approved by the Senate.
All Republican legislators voted in favor except Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, while 29 Democrats also joined in support.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican John Boehner, argued for the pipeline’s construction on grounds that most Americans are in favor of the project and the economic benefits it would generate, particularly in terms of job creation.
“The president needs to listen to the American people and say ‘yes, let’s build the Keystone pipeline,’” Boehner told reporters.
The Keystone XL pipeline would transport around 830,000 barrels per day of synthetic and bituminous crude oil 1,181 miles from the Canadian province of Alberta to different places in the U.S., including Texas refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and a distribution center in Oklahoma.
TransCanada Corp., a Canadian construction company, requested permission for construction in 2008, but since then has failed to advance the project which requires a go-ahead from the White House as it crosses the U.S.-Canadian border.
Environmental groups and activists support a veto as they believe that the construction will have an adverse environmental impact with rupture risks and oil spills.
Obama said that he is waiting for all revisions and evaluations of environmental impact carried out by the U.S. State Department, since their support will critically depend on the climatic and environmental effects of the construction of the pipeline.
The State Department had stopped its investigation waiting for the decision of the Supreme Court of Nebraska, through which one of the sections of the pipeline passes.
source
Congress Approves Controversial Keystone Pipeline Setting Obama Up for Veto
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives has approved by a large majority the controversial construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, confirming the challenge sent by the Republican opposition to President Barack Obama, who has warned of using his veto power against the project.Wednesday’s vote, with 270 in favor and 152 against, was supported by the Republican majority in the lower house of Congress.
The proposal had already been approved by the Senate.
All Republican legislators voted in favor except Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, while 29 Democrats also joined in support.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican John Boehner, argued for the pipeline’s construction on grounds that most Americans are in favor of the project and the economic benefits it would generate, particularly in terms of job creation.
“The president needs to listen to the American people and say ‘yes, let’s build the Keystone pipeline,’” Boehner told reporters.
The Keystone XL pipeline would transport around 830,000 barrels per day of synthetic and bituminous crude oil 1,181 miles from the Canadian province of Alberta to different places in the U.S., including Texas refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and a distribution center in Oklahoma.
TransCanada Corp., a Canadian construction company, requested permission for construction in 2008, but since then has failed to advance the project which requires a go-ahead from the White House as it crosses the U.S.-Canadian border.
Environmental groups and activists support a veto as they believe that the construction will have an adverse environmental impact with rupture risks and oil spills.
Obama said that he is waiting for all revisions and evaluations of environmental impact carried out by the U.S. State Department, since their support will critically depend on the climatic and environmental effects of the construction of the pipeline.
The State Department had stopped its investigation waiting for the decision of the Supreme Court of Nebraska, through which one of the sections of the pipeline passes.
source
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