Senate forces Obama's hand on Keystone XL

Fuel Fix:

The Senate passed legislation to authorize Keystone XL on Thursday, ending a nearly four-week debate over the fate of the pipeline and veering closer to a confrontation with President Barack Obama over the project.

The measure aims to immediately permit the TransCanada Corp. pipeline, six years after the Calgary-based company first asked U.S. regulators for permission to build it.

But White House officials reiterated Thursday that President Barack Obama will veto the measure. And while Republicans pushed the bill through the Senate on a 62-36 vote — with backing from nine Democrats — they fell short of securing a veto-proof majority.

Obama’s opposition is pegged to an ongoing State Department review of whether the proposed border-crossing pipeline is in the national interest.
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His opposition is ridiculous.  The State Department has already found it to be in the national interest on numerous occasions.   If he were capable of doing some strategic thinking he would realize that it would be in the national interest to replace Venezuelan oil with Canadian oil.  The pipeline will offer offer more competition to exporting countries like Russia and Iran.  It is clearly a safer way to transport oil and better for the environment.  His real objection is pleasing the anti energy left and their donor base.