WATCH: U.S. President Barack Obama vetoed a bill that would have authorized construction of the Keystone XL pipeline Tuesday. Aarti Pole has the reaction from Washington.
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama made good Tuesday on a threat to veto a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, bringing the two sides in the long-running controversy to a rare point of agreement: their battle is far from over.
“The president is sadly mistaken if he thinks vetoing this bill will end this fight,” the Republican leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives wrote in an open letter.
“Far from it. We are just getting started.”
The Canadian government echoed that theme.
“It is not a question of if this project will be approved; it is a matter of when,” said Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford.
“We will continue to strongly advocate for this job-creating project.”
READ MORE: Prentice in U.S.: Obama veto won’t kill Keystone XL
Even the White House concurred that the issue is far from settled. It pointed out that Tuesday’s announcement was a step in a long, winding process – not a final destination.
The president cast the veto as a matter of procedural principle. In his letter to Congress, Obama said the bill he was scrapping had improperly tried to usurp presidential authority. (Read the full veto memo below).
The White House position is that cross-border pipeline permits are a matter for the president to decide – not Congress, which passed a bill earlier this month forcing the approval of the project.
That bill was delivered to the president Tuesday and he vetoed it on the very first available day.
WATCH: Senate receives Keystone XL veto message from White House
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the president could still, in theory, approve the pipeline. The veto doesn’t necessarily reflect Obama’s view on the pipeline itself, he noted.
“It certainly is possible,” said Earnest said, noting the president would keep an “open mind” on the project.
“(This) does not represent a specific position on the pipeline itself… It just merely says that the benefits, and consequences, of building that pipeline should be thoroughly evaluated by experts and through this administrative process that has existed for decades.”
The administration is in the final phase of its regulatory review of the project – which was delayed by a dispute over the route in Nebraska, then again in a procedural dispute with Republicans in Congress in 2011, and once more during a court case involving Nebraska landowners last year.
The administration couldn’t say Tuesday when the process would wrap up. But Earnest said he expects a decision soon after the conclusion of the review by the State Department, which is leading the process.
READ MORE: Reaction to Obama’s veto of Keystone XL pipeline
Alberta Premier Jim Prentice said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by Obama’s veto.
“Our commitment to responsible energy development is steadfast, and our environmental standards are much greater than those of other countries that send their oil to the U.S. market every day.
“Alberta is the only major supplier of oil to the U.S. with a price on carbon,” Prentice added.
“The debate will continue and, just as I did during my recent visit to Washington, I will continue to communicate Alberta’s record as a safe, secure and reliable energy supplier, and our strong support for Keystone XL and for all infrastructure projects that advance North America’s energy interests.”
READ MORE: Keystone XL pipeline clears hurdle in U.S. Senate despite Obama veto threat
The North Dakota senator said Obama’s decision goes against what American people want.
“This bill has passed both chambers of Congress and the American public has expressed its support for the project in poll after poll,” explained John Hoeven. “Every state along the pipeline’s route has approved the project, and a series of environmental reviews completed over the course of six years have all concluded that the project will have no significant environmental impact.
“Yet, the president vetoed the bill because it ‘cut short’ his review process, which has already gone more than six years.”
However, Greenpeace Canada welcomed the news.
“Today’s Keystone veto should be a wake-up call to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and provincial premiers that climate action is incompatible with tar sands and pipeline expansion,” said Melina Laboucan-Massimo.
“We need leaders who understand the urgency of the crisis we face and are willing to take action to address it. President Obama has taken one of those steps, now we need our Canadian leaders to follow.”
WATCH: Minister of Natural Resources Greg Rickford told Global News he’s “disappointed” in U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to veto the proposed Keystone XL legislation
There could also be many more twists and turns in Congress, as alluded to in the open letter Tuesday by Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner.
Republicans will attempt to override the veto, although they don’t appear to have the necessary two-thirds majority. The project only has support from a minority of Democrats.
One of those rare Democrats also hinted at future congressional efforts. There’s widespread expectation that lawmakers might try attaching a pipeline provision to legislation Obama might find attractive, and difficult to veto.
“We’re going to basically find a middle, if you will, and move forward,” West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin told Fox News on Tuesday.
But the sides in this dispute can’t agree on much else – not even basic poll findings.
Keystone XL supporters point to surveys consistently showing that a majority of Americans – or at least a plurality – support the project.
But environmentalists released their own poll this week suggesting most Americans don’t really have a strong opinion on the issue, and would rather see Congress move on to other things.
With files from Emily Mertz, Global News and The Canadian Press
More to come…
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