Republican midterm success bodes well for Keystone XL

Speaking after this Tuesday’s US congressional elections that saw broad Republican victories, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner has suggested that incoming leader Senator Mitch McConnell may have enough votes to overcome blocking tactics by Democrats when he puts forward legislation requiring approval of the US$ 5.3 billion Keystone XL project.

Legislation allowing the construction of the Keystone oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, repealing Obamacare and reducing the nation’s debt are at the top of Republicans’ 2015 agenda, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday.

While Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell have talked about breaking Washington’s political gridlock, the speaker on Thursday did not shy away from the prospect of sending Obama controversial bills that he likely would veto.

Those could include legislation requiring the Keystone pipeline that environmentalists oppose and repealing all or central features of Mr. Obama’s landmark healthcare law.

When the new Congress begins on 3 January 2015, its Republican leaders will press ahead with energy legislation.

Republicans elected to the Senate this week support Keystone, as do all Republicans currently in the chamber.

And Democratic senators in Alaska, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia wrote Obama last April urging him to use his executive authority to push the process forward.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: The Globe and Mail, Yahoo

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