President Obama would veto bill to push KXL

President Barack Obama will veto a bill approving the controversial Keystone XL pipeline if it passes Congress, the White House has said.

The White House, ending weeks of speculation about its response to Republican moves on Keystone, said Obama would veto a bill introduced earlier on Tuesday that aims to take the decision over the pipeline out of his hands.

“If this bill passes this Congress, the President wouldn’t sign it,” the White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, said.

The bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday would give immediate approval to a Canadian pipeline project that has been waiting more than six years for a decision from the Obama administration.

The measure has the support of 63 senators – all 54 Republicans as well as some Democrats – enough to override a filibuster in the Senate.

But the Keystone supporters do not have the 67 votes needed to overcome a presidential veto.

Keystone supporters said the bill fast-tracking the Canadian pipeline was critical to keep crude oil moving.

TransCanada, the Canadian company building the pipeline, said it was encouraged by the moves in Congress. “We look forward to the debate and ultimately a decision by the US administration to build Keystone XL,” the company said in a statement.

The bill is the first major legislation to be introduced in the Republican-controlled Congress and a vote is expected in the House later this week.

Edited from source by Elizabeth Corner

Source: The Guardian, BBC

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