A group of Senate Republicans announced Wednesday that they will introduce legislation aimed at forcing President Obama to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would move crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries along the Gulf Coast.
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“Jobs will be created right away and billions of dollars in investment will be unleashed,” said Sen. RIchard Lugar, R-Ind., the lead sponsor of the bill.
President Obama earlier this month decided to delay until early 2013 a decision on whether to allow the $7 billion project to go forward. Republicans say the move was political and one aimed at appeasing his base of green energy supporters who fear the pipeline will make it harder to convert the nation to a green energy economy.
“If I were speculating about the political calculation, I would conclude he’s looked along the pipeline route and concluded he’s not going to carry those states,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters on Wednesday.
The House earlier this year passed a bipartisan bill that would have forced Obama to make a decision on the pipeline. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blocked the measure and is unlikely to allow consideration of this latest bill.
Republicans said the bill would greatly decrease America’s dependence on oil from Venezuela and the Middle East by transporting 700,000 barrels a day from Canada into the United States.
