(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senate Republicans are poised to push through a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, achieving a long sought policy objective that probably will be thwarted by a veto from President Barack Obama.
The Senate voted 62-35 to end debate and proceed to passage Thursday. Nine Democrats joined Republicans who voted to advance the measure that would bypass an administration review in progress for six years. Obama has said he will wait until the review is completed before deciding on whether to approve construction of the pipeline.
The Senate planned to consider additional amendments before taking a final vote. Differences with a version passed 266-153 by the House on Jan. 9 must be resolved before the legislation is sent to Obama.
The bill was the first measure taken up by the new, Republican-controlled Senate. Lawmakers who back Keystone have sought for years to force Obama’s hand. They say the project would create jobs and increase U.S. energy security by tightening ties with Canada, where the proposed TransCanada Corp. pipeline would originate.
“The Keystone infrastructure project has been studied endlessly -- endlessly -- from nearly every possible angle,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said before the vote. “We need to build it.”
House Talks
Senator John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican and a bill co-sponsor, said after the procedural vote that he’s talked with House leaders about adopting the Senate version, which would speed the measure to Obama’s desk.
Press Secretary Josh Earnest Thursday reiterated that Obama would veto the Keystone legislation.
Republicans overcame a stumble Monday when Democrats, objecting to limits on amendments they could offer, blocked a procedural vote. That fueled doubts Republicans could meet a goal of passing the bill this week.
Senators adopted an amendment to promote energy efficiency efforts. But Republicans blocked Democratic attempts to put the Senate on record saying climate change was a significant problem caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
The $8 billion Keystone project would run though Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, where it would connect to an existing pipeline network that extends to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Polls show more Americans support the project than oppose it, though the political payoff for Republicans in backing it probably is small.
Public Support
A Washington Post/ABC News poll this month found 34 percent of respondents wanted the pipeline built now, while 61 percent said the review should continue. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 41 percent favored the pipeline. But more than a third -- 37 percent -- said they didn’t know enough to have an opinion.
Environmentalists have rallied to oppose the pipeline because they say it would promote development of the oil sands, threatening Canada’s boreal forests, and spew more greenhouse gases tied to global warming into the air.
Landowners in Nebraska have said Keystone poses a risk to the state’s farmland and water resources.
Obama last year said Keystone doesn’t offer many benefits to U.S. consumers.
The State Department is overseeing the analysis because Keystone XL would cross the border. Eight federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, have until Monday to submit comments to the State Department.
Obama doesn’t face a deadline to decide.
TransCanada proposed building Keystone in September 2008. Opposition in Nebraska led the company to alter its initial route by pushing the pipeline further east to avoid a sensitive habitat and aquifer in the state.
The company broke the project in two, building the southern half and reapplying for a presidential permit for the northern leg.
The legislation is S.1.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jim Snyder in Washington at jsnyder24@bloomberg.net; Kathleen Hunter in Washington at khunter9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net; Jodi Schneider at jschneider50@bloomberg.net Steve Geimann
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