Senate Votes Approval of Keystone Pipeline

Keystone XL picks up Senate backing

The Senate on Friday voted 62-37 to approve the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline in an amendment to Senate budget.

Sen. John Hoeven’s (R-N.D.) amendment was largely symbolic, but served as a clear statement that the Senate backs the pipeline.

"It puts the Senate on record in support of the Keystone pipeline project. And that's just appropriate," Hoeven said. "The Department of State has done four environmental impact statements over the last five years — four — and said there are no significant environmental impacts. And it's time that we in the Senate stepped up with the American people."

As noted, the Senate vote has no force in law.  The pipeline is solely in the hands of the State Dept. and by extension, their boss, Preznit Obama.  The State Dept. has already gone on record that it can't find a good reason to block the pipeline, even though it were sent back to their rooms without supper and told to try again once already.

Currently, Obama is stuck on the horns of a dilemma; his union base wants the pipeline for the construction jobs, and his "environmental" base want's to kill it because it's a small step towards killing civilization as we know it (really, there's just no other explanation; there's no valid environmental reason that the State Department can cite, and you know they would if they could). 

I believe he has cut the Gordian knot by making it possible for him to publicly approve the pipeline, thus satisfying the unions, while paving the way for "environmentalists" to kill it with prolonged litigation.  It has already taken twice as long to get to this state of "approval" than it would have taken to build the damn thing.