Free Republic

The U.S. Senate Energy Committee advanced a bill on Wednesday that would force congressional approval of TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline project, but the measure seems unlikely to be taken up by the full Senate. The bill, the latest effort by lawmakers to breathe life into the long-delayed pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast, will languish without a commitment from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring it to a vote. The measure, from Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Republican Senators John Hoeven of North Dakota and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, would take a decision...

... Final say on the 1,177-kilometre pipeline now rests with the federal cabinet, which has 180 days to decide the project’s fate. Gateway, if built, would allow up to 525,000 barrels of oil sands-derived crude to reach new markets in Asia and on the U.S. West Coast. A twinned pipeline would import 193,000 bpd of bitumen-thinning condensate. Enbridge has said the project could be up and running by 2018, although the company is expecting costs to rise. It said during final public hearings the pipeline could cost $7.9-billion, according to the panel.... Reaction from opponents was swift. Greenpeace vowed on...

Energy Policy: A billionaire hedge fund manager and Barack Obama donor is pushing the president to stop the pipeline that would compete with one he's invested in. That pipeline could send Canadian oil to China. Environmental activist Tom Steyer donated as much as he could to get Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey elected to the Senate in the recent special election to fill the seat vacated by now-Secretary of State John Kerry. He wanted another senator who's opposed to completing the Keystone XL pipeline that he says would be an environmental plague on the planet. A few days before President Obama...