Republican Senators took to the floor today to press for legislation that would force President Obama to make an ultimate decision on the Keystone XL pipeline by early next year.
The legislation, introduced last week, would require Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to issue a permit allowing the Keystone pipeline within 60 days of passage, unless President Obama publicly announces that the project is not in the national interest.
Obama previously delayed the project by ordering the State Department to begin a brand new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires and EIS for all federal government actions that could have a significant impact on the environment. The State Department finalized an EIS back in August approving the project, but environmental activists successfully pressured Obama into asking State to undertake a new one.
The North American Energy Security Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., would deem the State Department’s August EIS adequate, thus preventing any NEPA lawsuits blocking the project.
“The goal would be to attach it to legislation is likely to pass before the end of this year so that this comes into play immediately. The president is going to have to make a decision one way or the other. ” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told bloggers on a conference call this afternoon.
Some Democrats are worried that Majority Leader Reid, D-Nev., will allow the Keystone legislation to be included in a final compromise on extending Obama’s payroll tax cut. Yesterday, five senators, four Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., signed a letter to Reid asking him not to include the Keystone bill in any payroll tax cut compromise.
“This project has been under review for three years — including two exhaustive environmental evaluations,” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor. “By all accounts the State Department was ready to give it the green light by the end of this year, this month. But then presidential politics got in the way. The President started getting heat from the environmental activists he’s counting on to stuff envelopes next year, so he put off a decision until after the election. If this episode tells us anything, it’s that the President is clearly more concerned about getting himself reelected next year than getting somebody in Nebraska or Kansas or South Dakota or Missouri a job today. He’s so determined to keep his liberal base happy he’s even willing to go against the labor unions.”
