WASHINGTON, D. C. — Republican lawmakers are once again trying to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline despite the president’s rejection of Transcanada’s application last month.

Three U.S. senators who represent states along the $7 billion pipeline’s proposed route tabled a bill Thursday that would prevent Barack Obama from releasing any oil from the country’s stockpile to curb high gas prices unless Keystone is approved first.

“The Keystone XL pipeline is yet another example of the president putting a political agenda in front of common-sense energy policy,” Louisiana Senator David Vitter, a sponsor of the bill, said in a statement Thursday.

“It’s as if this administration had never heard of the economics of supply and demand, unless it becomes politically expedient to release from our strategic reserves to influence gas prices when there is a looming election.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney said earlier this week “nothing is off the table” when it comes to high gas prices, including tapping the 700-million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

“The president is keenly aware of the impact higher gas prices have on families trying to make ends meet,” Carney told reporters Wednesday, adding there is no “silver bullet” to reduce gas prices.

The Senate bill t abled Thursday is the latest in a series of manoeuvres Republicans in Congress have tried to force Obama to approve Keystone, which supporters say would create some 20,000 jobs and add to America’s energy security.

It’s unlikely the bill will pass t he Democrat- dominated Senate.

Meanwhile, t he House of Representatives debated Thursday another bill designed to push Keystone through by stripping Obama’s power to approve it. Instead, it would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve the project within 30 days, providing their own review found the pipeline to be safe.

A vote on that bill, which is also unlikely to pass both houses, is expected Friday.

Environment Minister Peter Kent, who was here Thursday for a climate change announcement with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wouldn’t comment on the Republicans’ efforts to get Keystone approved.

“Canada doesn’t engage itself in the domestic politics of any sovereign nation,” he said. “We follow with interest, of course, the discussion and debate.”

He did say Keystone would “certainly” be a topic of discussion during his meeting with Clinton later Thursday.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is stored in salt caves along the Gulf of Mexico. It was established during the oil embargo of the 1970s but is rarely tapped.

In June, the White House released 30 million barrels to make up for a supply disruption because of the Libyan conflict. Earlier releases occurred in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina and in 1991 at the beginning of the first Gulf War.

In January, Obama rejected the Transcanada application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, arguing the 60- day deadline imposed by Congressional Republicans did not allow enough time to review the application.

Supporters of the project, which would ship an estimated 700,000 barrels of crude a day from Alberta’s oilsands to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico, say its construction would create 20,000 jobs in the U.S.

Critics don’t want the pipeline built because they say oil from Alberta is “dirty” and worry about a spill.

bryn.weese@sunmedia.ca