Congress clears Keystone bill

Supporters already seeking other ways to approve project.

President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the pipeline measure,

WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled Congress cleared a bill Wednesday to construct the Keystone XL oil pipeline, setting up a confrontation with President Barack Obama, who has threatened to veto the measure.

The House passed the bill on a 270-152 vote, endorsing changes made by the Senate that stated climate change was real and not a hoax, and oil sands should no longer be exempt from a tax used to clean up oil spills.

Only one Republican, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, voted against the measure, while 29 Democrats backed it. But neither the House nor the Senate has enough votes to overcome a veto, which Obama has 10 days to issue.

Supporters were already discussing how to secure the pipeline’s ap- proval using other legislative means.

Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, the chief Republican sponsor of the bill, said in a statement “we will continue to press for approval by attaching an approval measure to another bill, perhaps an energy bill or must-pass appropriations legislation.”

Obama “needs to work with Congress in a bipartisan way and approve the Keystone XL pipeline project for the American people,” he said.

For Republicans, the bill’s passage capped weeks of debate on a top priority after they took control of Congress last month. House Republicans, who have debated and passed numerous measures on the pipeline only to have them die in the Senate, claimed victory.

Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said she was a having a “holy cow” moment.

“This kind of support ... It doesn’t get any better than this,” she said.

Democrats, meanwhile, called the effort a waste of time but said the provisions on global warming and oil spills marked progress for Republicans on those issues.

Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., said the bill was another example of Republicans prioritizing legislation to send a message, regardless of its chances of becoming law. The vote Wednesday marked the 11th attempt by Republicans to advance the pipeline.

“The last few years have been like a hamster on a wheel, spinning and spinning and not getting anywhere,” said Hastings, who at one point held up a toy that looked like the rodent.

First proposed in 2008, the pipeline has come to symbolize the differences between the parties on energy and en- vironmental matters.

Republicans and the oil industry have argued the $8 billion infrastructure project is about jobs and boosting energy security, by importing oil from a friendly neighbor and shipping it to domestic refineries subject to more stringent environmental regulations.

Democrats, and their environmental allies, have characterized it as a gift to the oil industry that would worsen global warming and subject parts of the country to the risks of an oil spill, with little economic benefit because the oil and its refined product would be exported abroad.

The pipeline would connect Canada’s tar sands with Gulf coast refineries that specialize in processing heavy crude oil.