Politico: Obama "Personally Lobbying Democrats To Reject" Keystone Pipeline

by AF Branco

Today in Washington, DC - March 8, 2012:
The Senate today again resumed consideration of S. 1813, the highway bill. As many as 30 amendments to the highway bill will be worked through and voted on over the next few days of consideration. Among the first series of votes will be an amendment from Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline over the president’s rejection, an amendment from Sen. Susan Collines (R-ME) to block the EPA from implementing its costly Boiler-MACT regulations, and an amendment from Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to expand offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Yesterday, The Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act, H.R. 2842 passed (265-154). It will face a tougher test in the Democrat-controlled Senate where Democrats will oppose language in the bill that exempts small hydropower projects on Bureau of Reclamation property from review under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Reuters is reporting:  House  Speaker John Boehner, signaling a lack of Republican support for a stalled $260 billion transportation bill, said on Thursday he was ready to pursue a less-ambitious version under consideration by the Democratic-controlled Senate. A day after imploring House Republicans to end their deep divisions over the five-year measure to rebuild roads, bridges and railways, Boehner moved a step closer to giving up on the troubled House bill altogether. "The current plan is to see what the Senate can produce and to bring their bill up," Boehner told a news conference. "In the meantime we're going to continue to have conversations with members about a longer-term approach, which most of our members want. But at this point in time, the plan is to bring up the Senate bill or something like it," Boehner said.

Politico reports this morning, “President Barack Obama is intervening in a Senate fight over the Keystone XL oil pipeline and personally lobbying Democrats to reject an amendment calling for its construction, according to several sources familiar with the talks.

“The White House lobbying effort, including phone calls from the president to Democrats, signals that the vote could be close when it heads to the floor Thursday. The president is trying to defeat an amendment that would give election-year fodder to his Republican critics who have accused him of blocking a job-creating energy project at a time of high gas prices.

“The amendment, proposed by Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), states that Obama would have no role in such cross-border permitting decisions since, in this case, the pipeline would originate in Canada. The measure would need 60 votes to pass, and Obama has already lost two Democrats who back the proposal - Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mary Landrieu - and is at risk of losing more moderates and vulnerable Democrats.”

So despite President Obama’s talk of embracing an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, he’s apparently “personally lobbying Democrats” in the Senate to vote against Sen. Hoeven’s amendment to remove the White House’s road blocks to the pipeline and begin construction. This is even more remarkable in light of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney’s assertion last month that “the President didn't turn down the Keystone pipeline” and Obama himself bragging about “approving dozens of new pipelines” in a speech in North Carolina yesterday.

This was too much for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who took to the Senate floor, saying, “There’s a report this morning that President Obama is personally making phone calls to Democrat Senators he thinks might vote for this amendment. He’s asking them not to.  And, frankly, it’s hard to even comprehend how out of touch he is on this issue. I mean, think about it: at a moment when millions are out of work, gas prices are skyrocketing and the Middle East is in turmoil, we’ve got a president who’s up making phone calls trying to block a pipeline here at home.  It’s unbelievable.”

A vote on Sen. Hoeven’s amendment should begin sometime after 2 PM this afternoon. Will Senate Democrats support American energy security and thousands of jobs or will they pay heed to President Obama’s “personal lobbying” against the Keystone XL pipeline?

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