Legislation offers new angle in battle over Keystone pipeline

Proponents of the Keystone XL Pipeline flexed their muscle Wednesday at a congressional hearing over legislation to force approval of the long-delayed project. The hearing didn’t discuss whether the legislation, which would eliminate a requirement that the pipeline receive a presidential permit, could overcome a likely White House veto or pass constitutional muster. Instead, its supporters touted the 1,179-mile line as a job creator that would lower oil prices. “America is a nation of builders, and the American people want to see Keystone XL built,” Republican Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, said at Wednesday’s hearing. Similar legislation co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester of Montana is pending in the Senate. It’s unclear if Congress would succeed in forcing the president’s hand on Keystone. The White House largely ignored legislation that had set a date — February 2012 — for the president to make a final decision on the pipeline. And the president’s proposed fiscal 2014 budget unveiled Wednesday makes no mention of the project...more