President Obama cornered on Keystone Pipeline, Dem Mary Landrieu calls for vote
Democrats may still be reeling from the midterm election results and now President Obama will face immediate pressure to move ahead on the Keystone Pipeline. Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu sees the writing on the wall and now is pushing for a Senate vote to approve the long-delayed Keystone pipeline.
Landrieu is locked in a tough runoff election next month against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy for the Louisiana seat and sees this as a victory to keep her job.
“We can pass the Keystone pipeline and answer the frustrations of the American people,” she said. “So they could rest next and say, oh my gosh the senators of the United States of America have ears and they have brains and they have hearts and they heard what we said and we can do this.”
President Obama was asked about pending legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline while in Myanmar and the president said his position on the issue has not changed and that the ongoing evaluation should be allowed to continue.
He contrasted the Republican argument that the pipeline is a “massive jobs bill for the United States” saying:
“Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else. It doesn’t have an impact on US gas prices,” he said.
“If my Republican friends really want to focus on what’s good for the American people in terms of job creation and lower energy costs, we should be engaging in a conversation about what are we doing to produce even more homegrown energy? I’m happy to have that conversation,” he continued.
The proposed pipeline would move oil from Canada down to refineries off the coast of Louisiana to be then sold back to Canada and the U.S.
In March of 2013, several unions came out in support of the pipeline project and praised data from the State Department which refuted environmentalists claims that this was “bad” for the climate – more detailed coverage HERE
Cassidy noted that the House has passed pro-Keystone legislation eight times, and “the Senate did not consider any of the eight.” After Landrieu called for a vote, Cassidy and GOP leaders in the House said they would vote on a Cassidy-authored Keystone bill.
“I hope the Senate and the president do the right thing and pass this legislation creating thousands of jobs,” Cassidy said in a statement. “After six years, it’s time to build.”