海角大神

As Republicans gear up for the beginning of the first time they鈥檝e controlled both chambers of Congress since 2007, one legislative item at the top of the list will be an effort to push forward a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Indeed, a bill to do just that was introduced in the House yesterday as H.R. 3, and聽the White House has already made clear that the president will veto the bill if it makes it to his desk:

This isn鈥檛 the first legislative push we鈥檝e seen for the Keystone pipeline, of course. Republicans made similar efforts several times after the 2010 elections, but because they only controlled the House, up until yesterday, those efforts largely died in the Senate. In November, after it was clear that the Democrats had lost control of the Senate but while her own seat still remained in a precarious balance,聽former Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) of Louisiana pushed a bill to authorize the pipeline聽in what was an obvious effort to save her own seat from near-certain defeat in the December runoff. At that point, of course, Democrats still controlled the Senate and the bill was聽unable to get even the requisite 60 votes to get past a cloture motion.聽Nonetheless, it was noted at the time that the bill received the votes of 14 Democrats, including nine Democrats who returned to office in the 114th Congress. This suggests that there are at least 64 votes in favor of the pipeline in the new Senate. It鈥檚 also clear that the bill to authorize the pipeline will easily pass the House on Friday. The question, of course, is whether there would be sufficient support in either chamber to override the president鈥檚 veto. In the Senate, that would mean finding an additional three Democrats to support the bill which, I suppose, is theoretically possible, although it鈥檚 hard to see from a distance who those three members might be at this point. In the House, though, Republicans would need to find 44 Democrats willing to break with their own party, and their president, on what is likely to be the first high profile confrontation between the president and the new Congress. In the immediate aftermath of the 2014 elections, there were many who speculated聽that the new Congress could have a veto-proof majority in favor of a Keystone XL bill聽if Republicans were able to add sufficient 鈥渟weeteners鈥� to a bill to bring along enough Democratic votes in both chambers. Whether that can actually happen, of course, remains to be seen.

As for the policy itself, as I have said before, there seems to me to be very little reason for the pipeline itself to not be permitted to go forward. While the concerns of environmentalists are not to be dismissed lightly,聽the benefits of allowing the project to go forward far outweigh the costs that opponent have continued to cite over the years. Additionally, it has become clear to me that most of the risks that the opponents of the project have raised have been hysterically overstated.For one thing, transporting the oil via pipeline is both far safe and far less environmentally taxing than transporting it via train or tractor trailer. Additionally, encouraging further development of the shale oil production areas in North Dakota and across the border in Alberta, Canada, would further enhance聽energy independence for North America and strengthen our relationship with Canada. Additionally, while the studies disagree on the exact numbers, there鈥檚 no question that the pipeline would be a fantastic source of real economic stimulus for the states it runs through and for the nation as a whole. It could also potentially help promote additional oil shale exploration in the Upper Far West, something that has already brought astounding economic stimulus to North Dakota, which happens to have the lowest unemployment rate of any state in the nation. Adding all of this together, the decision to approve the pipeline seems like a no-brainer. Instead, the Obama Administration continues to dither and pander to the Democratic base on this issue. Can Congress finally take control of this project and force the president鈥檚 hand? It鈥檚 not clear yet, but it鈥檚 certainly worth a try.

Doug Mataconis appears on the Outside the Beltway blog at http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/.