Senate Panel Plans to Introduce Keystone XL Bill Next Week

The head of the Senate energy committee plans to introduce a bill next week to force approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, though the full chamber faces a battle in obtaining needed votes to overcome any veto by President Barack Obama. Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican and the new head of the energy committee, said through a spokesman that she will introduce the bill next week after a hearing on TransCanada Corp's $8 billion project. A similar bill died in November, falling one vote short of the necessary 60 votes for the project that would bring some 800,000 barrels per day of Canada's oil sands petroleum to Nebraska en route to Gulf Coast refineries. Keystone supporters supporters likely lack the 67 votes needed to overcome any presidential veto. Obama has said he will not approve the pipeline if it leads to a substantial increase in emissions linked to climate change. He has also said the project would do little to lower gasoline prices for U.S. consumers. http://bit.ly/1BeIxa5 http://bit.ly/1fJ5yqZ