Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate majority leader, has suggested the possibility that the Senate vote on legislation that could decide the fate of TransCanada‘s Keystone XL pipeline project, Reuters reported Tuesday.While Reid has indicated his stance on energy efficiency, he also said the Republicans are looking to force approval of the project, Richard Cowan, Timothy Gardner and Tom Ferraro report.
The Keystone pipeline is expected to bring at least 800,000 barrels of Canada’s oil sands petroleum a day to U.S. refineries in Texas, resulting in divided opinion between environmentalists, who warn against an increase in emissions, and unions, who encourage the large-scale job creation.
According to the report, approval of the project has been delayed for more than five years and the White House has said it will veto attempts by Congress to approve the project.
The Senate could attach a similar measure to the energy efficiency bill sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), which is expected to be under Senate debate this week.
However, the report said the Senate might not have enough votes to overcome a possible veto from the administration, if the bill passed the Senate and the House of Representatives.
