Senate rejects Keystone XL bill {and Mary Landrieu}

The Senate narrowly rejected legislation to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday, handing a defeat to the oil industry and dealing a major blow to Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu, who staked her political career on the outcome.

The Senate voted 59-41 for the legislation, falling one vote shy of the 60 needed for passage under the deal bringing it to the floor.

But Keystone supporters insisted the defeat would be short-lived. Republican leaders are vowing to try again after they take over the chamber in January — when they will have more than enough votes to get a measure through Congress that would kickstart construction on the 1,170-mile pipeline from Alberta to Steele City, Neb.

“We will come back again next year and keep coming back until we get a solution,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Landrieu also struck a resolute tone, telling reporters after the legislative loss that she would continue her crusade for Keystone XL and her Senate seat.

“I’m going to continue to shake this place up when I can,” she said. “There is no blame. There’s just joy in the fight.”

Landrieu’s supporters had hoped passing the Keystone bill would bolster her bid for reelection, heading into a Dec. 6 runoff that will decide whether she or her Republican rival, Rep. Bill Cassidy, serves in the Senate the next six years. Post-election polls have shown Landrieu trailing Cassidy in Louisiana, where the state’s economy is deeply entwined with the oil industry’s fortunes.

For days, Landrieu has been trying to persuade her colleagues to support the legislation, making personal, impassioned pleas to fellow Democrats, and successfully convincing Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Tom Carper of Delaware to back the bill. But Tuesday, Landrieu stood solemnly in the chamber as it became clear her efforts had fallen short.

Ultimately, all 45 of the Senate’s Republicans voted for the legislation, along with 14 Democrats, including Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska, Bennet, Carper, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Landrieu, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Joe Tester of Montana, John Walsh of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia.

Democrats said Landrieu should get credit for pushing the Keystone XL bill to a vote. Although the House has voted nine times to force approval of the project — sometimes as part of broader legislation — the issue has been ensnared in Senate gridlock.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who opposes Keystone XL, lauded Landrieu’s passion and noted that she had “fought so hard to bring this bill to the floor.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., dubbed the project the “Keystone Extra Lethal Pipeline” but insisted that the debate would not be happening “if not for Sen. Landrieu’s insistence.”

And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted “the race is not over in Louisiana.”

Even if Keystone supporters had prevailed Tuesday, it was not clear President Barack Obama would sign the legislation into law.

Although the White House stopped short of an outright veto threat, Obama insisted last week that Congress shouldn’t short-circuit an ongoing State Department review to determine whether the $8 billion pipeline is in the national interest. That examination is now on hold pending the Nebraska Supreme Court’s ruling on a legal challenge to the route through that state.

But the fate of the project and the outcome of that review are now deeply charged political questions, with environmentalists arguing that the pipeline would encourage more development of Canada’s oil sands crude and industry supporters insisting that tens of thousands of jobs hang in the balance.

Because the bitumen harvested from Canada’s oil sands is unlocked using mining and other energy-intensive steam-based techniques, environmentalists say the resulting heavy crude has a bigger carbon footprint than alternatives.

But supporters, who reject that carbon calculation, argue that the pipeline would create domestic jobs while further weaning the United States off Middle East oil.

Although the State Department said Keystone XL would create roughly 42,000 jobs, some of those would only be indirectly supported and many would last only for the duration of construction, spanning about two years. TransCanada Corp. has said about four dozen workers would be required to keep the pipeline running later.

TransCanada, which first asked the United States for approval to build the pipeline to ferry oil sands crude to Gulf Coast refineries six years ago, said Tuesday’s Senate vote and earlier House passage of identical legislation on Friday “demonstrates a growing and high level of support for Keystone XL” on Capitol Hill.

Keystone supporters expect to build on those numbers next year. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., the architect of the legislation and the GOP strategy on the issue, stressed that Republicans are “open to creative ideas to advance it.”

With the GOP’s election victories, Republicans claim more than 60 votes to pass a Keystone XL bill next year, though they do not clearly have 67 votes to overcome a presidential veto.

Hoeven said Republicans could try other tactics, including embedding Keystone XL legislation in a spending bill Obama would be hard-pressed to veto or tying it to a measure to accelerate natural gas exports that could lure more support. Smuggling it into broader energy legislation could also provide enough political cover for Obama to sign a Keystone XL bill into law.

“There’s a lot of interest on both sides of the aisle in working on something that would include some other legislation,” Hoeven said.

“Tonight is but a temporary delay, as the new Senate will add four additional votes for the Keystone XL pipeline,” American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard told reporters. “We’ll be working with the Congress — let me emphasize, on a bipartisan basis — to find the path forward. It’s clear now the votes are there. The president will have to deal with this.”

Both the oil industry and environmentalists marshaled supporters to lobby their senators ahead of the vote.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she had been inundated with 120,000 calls and letters from her constituents, with about 93 percent against the project.

Environmentalists also protested on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, mounting rallies inside the offices of Bennet and Carper, after their recent pledges to back the bill.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/11/18/keystoned-out-their-minds/

The administration’s latest argument against building Keystone has been that the jobs it generates will be few, and the few that will be generated will be part-time.

Leaving aside that countless other studies, including one conducted by the very State Department that’s been exploring this matter for more than six years, figure anywhere from 20,000 to 42,000 jobs will come from the construction of this massive project — this massive infrastructure project.

You’d think on that basis alone, and given the administration’s fondness for any type of infrastructure spending, Keystone would be a no-brainer. Advice for future reference, Keystone backers, insert “infrastructure” into your argument....

Then there’s that other Keystone benefit that works to all Americans’ interests — the security in knowing we are tapping more of our ample energy resources here. Critics contend what’s the big deal to that if oil companies just sell it abroad? Even assuming all that oil drilled here gets sold somewhere else, which it wouldn’t — doesn’t that make American energy companies stronger and the American energy influence bigger? And isn’t that a net benefit to this country? Wouldn’t you prefer America calling the energy shots and not someone else? Is there no value to keeping our energy riches in the family? Is there no upside to no longer being held up by forces across the globe who might not have our interests at heart?...

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/a-few-surprises-in-the-senates-rejection-of-the-keystone-xl-pipeline/

...Every Republican voted for cloture, as did 14 relatively conservative Democrats. There were five more surprising votes: those of Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Bill Nelson of Florida and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine....

There’s a fairly clear explanation for Johnson, King and Nelson. None of them has an election to worry about for at least another four years, so electoral repercussions aren’t really an issue. All three also received at least an 85 percent score from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), an environmental advocacy group, in 2013. The average Democrat who voted yes scored a 76 percent. Opponents of the pipeline have argued that the potential benefits are outweighed by the negative environmental impact.

Bennet and Casey may believe the pipeline will keep gas prices down and create jobs — maybe they believe so more than the average Democrat. But a cynic might say their yes votes were about winning elections.....

Landrieu is an endangered species, the last Democratic senator in the Deep South, and she can no longer campaign as the powerful chairwoman of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources committee in her oil- and gas-rich state now that Democrats have already lost their majority in the Senate. An internal poll released last week from her Republican opponent, Rep. Bill Cassidy, showed Landrieu down 16 points in the polls. The last 15 public polls have shown Cassidy leading, although most merely by single digits. And, even if Landrieu could have convinced enough of her colleagues to get behind Keystone, it’s unclear how much of a difference such a victory could have made for her. House Republican leaders already allowed Cassidy to lead the charge last week to approve Keystone in the House.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/democrats-are-giving-up-on-mary-landrieu-20141118

Instead of a Hail Mary, this morning FoxNews was running a banner: Fail Mary.

Obama threatened to veto it anyway, so even if it passed, it was an effort in futility — except that it got Dems on the record as voting for or against.

When the issue resurfaces early next year, the Pubbie majority plus some Dems might have enough to override an Obama veto.

Before the election, the Demagogic Party wasn't against Keystone XL, it were just against voting on it. Now that the election is over, it can vote against the Keystone XL and American jobs.

Ultimately, all 45 of the Senate’s Republicans voted for the legislation, along with 14 Democrats, including Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska, Bennet, Carper, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Landrieu, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Joe Tester of Montana, John Walsh of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia.

That's 59; how many of those Demwits just lost their races?

Democrats said Landrieu should get credit for pushing the Keystone XL bill to a vote.

IOW, that bitch is the one you should blame, not us. No wonder she lost the election.

Although the House has voted nine times to force approval of the project — sometimes as part of broader legislation — the issue has been ensnared in Senate gridlock.

Senate gridlock, that's the buried lead.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who opposes Keystone XL, lauded Landrieu’s passion and noted that she had “fought so hard to bring this bill to the floor.”

IOW, don't blame Shel.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., dubbed the project the “Keystone Extra Lethal Pipeline” but insisted that the debate would not be happening “if not for Sen. Landrieu’s insistence.”

IOW, don't blame Babs.

And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted “the race is not over in Louisiana.”

The race in Nevada isn't either, jackass.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who opposes Keystone XL, lauded Landrieu’s passion and noted that she had “fought so hard to bring this bill to the floor.”

She fought so hard to bring the ball inside the 20.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., dubbed the project the “Keystone Extra Lethal Pipeline” but insisted that the debate would not be happening “if not for Sen. Landrieu’s insistence.”

Let's give her kudos for being on the field.

-PJ

When the issue resurfaces early next year, the Pubbie majority plus some Dems might have enough to override an Obama veto.

Don't think so, 5 of the dems voting for it will be replaced by that pubbie majority leaving only 9 pro-Keystone dems left. 55 republicans plus 9 dems still leave you 3 votes shy of an override.

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