WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate is expected to vote tonight on the Keystone XL pipeline – the latest chapter in a drawn-out political dogfight that has dragged on for years.
Pipeline supporters need 60 votes to avoid prolonged filibustering on the bill, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been – but it’s not clear that they have the numbers.
The pipeline was approved last week for the ninth time by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, but it faces a tougher test in the Senate, which is still controlled by Democrats until a new session begins next year.
A tougher hurdle still will be the desk of U.S. President Barack Obama, who is widely expected to veto the legislation, which would essentially short-circuit the White House’s own environmental review process.
Keystone XL, a political football almost since its inception six years ago, would transport bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Politics suggest today’s vote will be anything but definitive.
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