House Passes Bill Approving Construction of Keystone XL Pipeline
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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The House passed a bill on Friday, approving the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
At least 31 Democrats voted for the 1,700-mile-long pipeline, which would carry Canadian oil to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the Landieu-Hoeven bill, with the same language, on Tuesday evening.
President Obama has signaled a veto, telling reporters in Asia that the pipeline “doesn’t have an impact on U.S. gas prices.”
But the oil industry has pushed back on the notion that Keystone will — as Obama put it –“provide the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else.”
An official with the American Petroleum Institute tells ABC News that claim is “unfounded” — that Canadian tar sands are treated as American oil once it hits the U.S. border, and it can’t be exported without a waiver from the government.
Plus, API says the pipeline will also carry oil from Montana and North Dakota, not just Canada.
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