Senate Democrats Block Keystone XL Approval

“Senate Democrats narrowly defeated a bill 59 to 41 that would have approved the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, rebuffing their Democratic colleague, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who had hoped to muscle the legislation through in advance of her uphill runoff election fight back home,” the New York Times reports.

“The battle over approving the pipeline, which will carry petroleum from the oil sands of Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas, ultimately became a proxy war for the Louisiana Senate seat, where Ms. Landrieu and Republican Representative Bill Cassidy are locked in fight for votes in their oil-rich state ahead of the Dec. 6 runoff election.”

Roll Call: “Republican leaders plan to bring the pipeline legislation back up next year, when GOP reinforcements appear certain to bring it over the line and to President Obama’s desk.”

[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]President Obama got the result he wanted. He doesn’t have to show his hand on Keystone XL until next year. [/speech_bubble]