With the Keystone XL pipeline application again passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and headed for a Senate vote, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Michigan) is hoping the ninth time is the charm.
The legislation passed the House for the ninth time by a 252-161 last week.
“President Obama famously proclaimed in January 2013 that he would do ‘whatever it takes’ to create jobs and 2014 was renamed the President’s so-called ‘Year of Action,’” Upton said. “But when the chips are down, President Obama is incapable of saying ‘yes’ to a project that would create thousands of American jobs and advance our energy security. But despite the president’s excuses, we haven’t given up on finding a bipartisan solution.
Completion of the fourth phase of the U.S.-Canadian pipeline has been hung up in legal battles because it would it would traverse the top of the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska.
“Hopefully, this ninth vote is the charm, and the Senate and President will finally agree that after six years, it’s time to say yes to energy and yes to jobs,” Upton said.
Opponents of the pipeline claim the economic benefit of its construction does not justify risking the country’s drinking water and farmlands. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe, whose territory in South Dakota lies on the pipeline’s proposed route, called the House approval an “act of war against our people.”