Posted on 02/07/2012 6:27:23 PM PST by Libloather
House panel approves Keystone pipeline bill
By Ben Geman - 02/07/12 04:27 PM ET
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
The bill is the latest GOP-led effort to advance the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline. Republicans are also trying to punish Obama politically ahead of the 2012 election for failing to greenlight the project that GOP lawmakers call a way to create jobs and boost energy security.
Rep. Lee Terry’s (R-Neb.) bill — which passed the powerful committee in a 33-20 vote — is likely heading for the House floor next week as part of wider transportation and energy legislation.
It would instruct the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a permit for TransCanada Corp.’s proposed pipeline within 30 days, taking the issue out of the State Department’s hands.
Three Democrats voted with Republicans for the bill: Reps. Jim Matheson (Utah), John Barrow (Ga.) and Mike Ross (Ark.). Rep. Charlie Bass (N.H.) was the lone Republican who opposed it.
Passage came after lawmakers defeated several Democratic amendments, including Rep. Ed Markey’s (D-Mass.) plan to require that Keystone XL oil, and refined products that it's turned into, remain in the United States.
Markey used the amendment — which failed 14-37 — to batter GOP claims that Keystone will help curb reliance on oil from unstable nations.
“This appears to be a complete fiction, because under this bill there are no guarantees that even a drop of the tar sands oil and fuels will stay in this country,” Markey said.
“This bill is not about energy security, it is not about jobs, it is about oil company profits, plain and simple.”
But Republicans disagreed and pointed to a memo from an Energy Department official who said the oil will be attractive to Gulf Coast refineries.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said the project would be a good idea even if some oil was exported.
“Even if you accept [Markey’s] premise, more oil going on the world market is a good thing,” Shimkus said.
And when it comes to refined products made from the oil, critics of the amendment said such potential exports should not be vilified.
“They are value-added products. They are creating and maintaining jobs in the United States,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas).
Across Capitol Hill, top Senate Republicans are promoting legislation that would mandate approval of the pipeline.
Proponents are weighing options including efforts to attach Keystone language to the upper chamber’s big transportation bill, or the next extension of the payroll-tax cut.
Sen. John Thune (S.D.), a member of the Senate GOP leadership team, told reporters Tuesday that the payroll-tax bill shouldn’t be ruled out as a medium to introduce Keystone language, but called highway legislation a natural fit.
“I do think there are a lot of reasons why it makes sense here,” he said in the Capitol. “There are a lot of other energy issues that are addressed in the context of the House highway bill.”
Major business groups and some unions are also pushing for approval of the project.
Environmentalists bitterly oppose Keystone over greenhouse gas emissions and other ecological damage from Alberta’s oil sands projects, as well as fears of spills along the route. They accuse proponents of inflating the number of jobs it would create.
The Obama administration last month rejected a permit for TransCanada. Obama claimed that a Feb. 21 deadline the GOP demanded left inadequate time to complete review, but the administration invited TransCanada to reapply.
The White House, before a short-term payroll-tax-cut extension in December created the deadline, had planned to punt on making the decision on Keystone until after the 2012 election.
Then there is that old veto thingy.
The Canadians are in talks with the Chinese to sell them the oil Obama doesn’t want in the US.
..... Definitely a start ..... Of course ... It still has to pass a little thing called the Senate .... Where all GOP bills go to die.
Good luck with that start. It has about as much chance of surviving and being passed into law and then getting FERC approval as a snowball in hell.
If the Republicans had any guts or balls they would end this dictatorship by allegiance to their oath of office.
BUMP!
Good for them! American interests come first with our congress, and I would rather prefer to work with our neighbors and friends the Canadians than deal with a bunch of crazy muslims.
GOOD!
make him veto. Make him veto 2 or 3 times. That will do wonders for his re-election campaign.
@http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf/FEIS05_Appendix_I_ATTACHMETN3_RateStudy.pdf?OpenFileResource
The pipeline is designed to carry about 830,000 barrels' a day of crude oil, requiring electrically driven pump stations spaced periodically along the route.
@Motiva Port Arthur Refinery Expansion Project
Motiva Enterprises is expanding its Port Arthur Refinery (PAR) in Texas by 325,000 barrels per day (bbl/d), taking total capacity to 600,000 bbl/d.
You are obviously too obtuse to understand this, Markey Mark, but this is about more than keeping the oil and fuels in this country. One refinery has spent billions to build new units that can handle that oil and it won't even be able to handle half of the oil that can be sent down that pipeline by itself because there are already units committed to other fuel sources.
And Motiva isn't the only refinery to have built new units in anticipation of this oil. Units for byproducts have also been built in several area refineries and chemical plants, just as they have in the Houston area.
This oil will ensure that the Citizens of the Golden Triangle of SE Texas have long term employment because those new units wear down and will have to be shut down for repairs on a regular basis. Some of those units will have to be shutdown for maintenance while the others continue to operate. This creates a cyclic rotation of operating and in-operating units on quarterly increments for years to come.
There are also the pumping stations that will be spread out across the long breadth of this pipeline. Some States will have up to six stations that require around the clock personnel. All of these jobs will create secondary service jobs in every State the pipeline crosses.
The jobs created to perform all of this endeavor will get you your precious dollars, which is what you're really concerned about IMO and you just won't say "Boo" about it.
There will be income taxes, royalties and other taxes from the fuels and byproducts that will be sold in the US. People will also be able to spend those dollars earned through their labors to make their own lives more comfortable, yet I'm pretty sure the government will find some way to get their piece of the action, so to speak, so don't you fret, you'll get yours.
It still amazes me how somebody in a position such as yours can be so ignorant as to the long term benefits of this pipeline and still, somehow, continue to maintain that position.
/rant
Only if Republicans have the gonads to push the issue.
The idiot Watermelons (econazis) conveniently leave out the fact there are already 100,000 miles of pipeline that exist in the United States.
So The Messiah deep sixes it.
Pass this bill again every month and force it to be a matter of public discussion every month until the election. Invite the dictator to veto it again and again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.