The Pipeline That Wouldn't Die
House Republicans didn't let it stay dead for long.
Just weeks after President Obama rejected construction of a massive 1,700-mile international oil pipeline, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to resurrect the project Tuesday.
The committee approved the North American Energy Access Act (H.R. 3548), a new legislative attempt to outmaneuver the president on the Keystone XL pipeline project.
Obama last month rejected the controversial, $7 billion pipeline which would run from Canada down to the U.S. Gulf Coast. He did so after Republicans forced the president's hand by imposing a tight 60-day review period which Obama called unrealistic.
The president had wanted to delay a decision on the pipeline, which has drawn outrage due to environmental concerns and scrutiny over the cozy relationship between a key corporate lobbyist for the project and Secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Authored by Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), the North American Energy Access Act would remove the president’s authority over the pipeline’s permit and giving it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The legislation instructs FERC to approve the pipeline within 30 days if the permit remains in compliance with State Department’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, according to a statement by the energy panel. A federal regulatory body, FERC consists of members of both parties who were appointed by the president.
“This legislation is just a ruse to turn Congress into a permitting body and jam the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline through without proper environmental review. The Terry bill does not give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the power to decide whether the Keystone XL pipeline should proceed as some Republicans might describe,” says Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a key Washington environmental group opposed to the pipeline.
“Instead, they are approving a pipeline with a route that is yet to be determined and that would carry a corrosive and dirty substance that may make spills more likely,” Beinecke adds. “U.S. waters would be put at risk by a dirty fuel but the benefits would be reaped by oil companies that will export most of this oil.”
She notes that committee members defeated an amendment by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), which would have required the tar sands oil from the pipeline to be kept in the United States.
“The defeat of the Markey amendment shows just how much the Keystone XL economics will depend on shipping tar sands oil through, not to the United States,” Beinecke says. "President Obama put our health and safety and our climate, air, lands and water above the interests of Big Oil when he rejected the pipeline. It’s a shame some lawmakers won’t do the same.”
The Terry bill now goes to the full House for approval, where Republicans say the legislation will become part of the GOP's planned American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.
“We hope the Senate will use common sense and avoid trying to undermine proper review using politically motivated legislative maneuvers,” Beinecke says.
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Just weeks after President Obama rejected construction of a massive 1,700-mile international oil pipeline, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to resurrect the project Tuesday.
The committee approved the North American Energy Access Act (H.R. 3548), a new legislative attempt to outmaneuver the president on the Keystone XL pipeline project.
Obama last month rejected the controversial, $7 billion pipeline which would run from Canada down to the U.S. Gulf Coast. He did so after Republicans forced the president's hand by imposing a tight 60-day review period which Obama called unrealistic.
The president had wanted to delay a decision on the pipeline, which has drawn outrage due to environmental concerns and scrutiny over the cozy relationship between a key corporate lobbyist for the project and Secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Authored by Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), the North American Energy Access Act would remove the president’s authority over the pipeline’s permit and giving it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The legislation instructs FERC to approve the pipeline within 30 days if the permit remains in compliance with State Department’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, according to a statement by the energy panel. A federal regulatory body, FERC consists of members of both parties who were appointed by the president.
“This legislation is just a ruse to turn Congress into a permitting body and jam the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline through without proper environmental review. The Terry bill does not give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the power to decide whether the Keystone XL pipeline should proceed as some Republicans might describe,” says Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a key Washington environmental group opposed to the pipeline.
“Instead, they are approving a pipeline with a route that is yet to be determined and that would carry a corrosive and dirty substance that may make spills more likely,” Beinecke adds. “U.S. waters would be put at risk by a dirty fuel but the benefits would be reaped by oil companies that will export most of this oil.”
She notes that committee members defeated an amendment by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), which would have required the tar sands oil from the pipeline to be kept in the United States.
“The defeat of the Markey amendment shows just how much the Keystone XL economics will depend on shipping tar sands oil through, not to the United States,” Beinecke says. "President Obama put our health and safety and our climate, air, lands and water above the interests of Big Oil when he rejected the pipeline. It’s a shame some lawmakers won’t do the same.”
The Terry bill now goes to the full House for approval, where Republicans say the legislation will become part of the GOP's planned American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.
“We hope the Senate will use common sense and avoid trying to undermine proper review using politically motivated legislative maneuvers,” Beinecke says.
Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:
Bookmark The Washington Current and drop back in for more news from the nation's capital.
Labels: environment, House Energy and Commerce Committee, pipelines
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6:11 PM
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