Senate Republicans block Keystone export and steel amendments

JIM SNYDER and KATHLEEN HUNTER

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans blocked two attempts to amend legislation forcing approval of the Keystone XL pipeline that would have required the project be built with domestically produced steel and that the oil be used in the U.S.

With polls showing Americans support Keystone, Democrats had used the amendments Tuesday to undermine the pipeline’s purported benefits to the U.S. They argue that the oil from Alberta is destined for overseas markets and that the case for Keystone as a job creator is over-hyped.

Republicans made circumventing President Barack Obama’s review of the Keystone project their first major legislative effort since taking control of both the House and Senate this month. The Republican-backed bill the Senate is considering would let TransCanada Corp. build the $8 billion pipeline.

Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the Senate’s third-ranking Democrat, said at a news conference before the vote on the amendment that the crude carried by Keystone was destined for overseas markets, a point disputed by TransCanada.

The Republican-led Senate voted to table the no-export amendment offered by Senator Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, in a 57-42 vote, effectively killing the measure.

Republicans also blocked consideration of an amendment to require the steel used to build the pipeline be produced in the U.S. Senator Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, said half of the materials would come from outside the U.S.
U.S. Steel

Mark Cooper, a TransCanada spokesman, said about 52% of the steel that’s already purchased comes from a U.S. plant. The remaining needed materials will be “pursued in the U.S.,” Cooper said in an email.

The Senate approved an amendment to promote energy efficiency offered by Senator Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican.

The State Department is reviewing TransCanada’s request to build Keystone because it crosses an international border. The agency has told eight federal agencies, including the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, they have until Feb. 2 to submit comments to be included in the review.

Obama has said he’ll make the final call after the State Department makes its recommendation.

Congressional supporters of the project don’t have enough votes to override a threatened Obama veto of the legislation to short-circuit the review.

Supporters say the project will create jobs and improve U.S. energy security. Critics say it’s a risk to the climate and a threat to farmland and water resources in the states the pipeline would cross.