UPDATE: Keystone XL Pipeline Bill fails in Senate

Posted By: KLKN Newsroom
8@klkntv.com

The controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline failed to win approval in the Senate tonight by one vote a blow to Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu who hoped to be able to push it through. 

Landrieu, a Democrat who is in a tight December run-off to keep her Senate seat, had sponsored the bill and had expressed confidence earlier in the day that she and other supporters had rounded up the 60 votes necessary to approve the long stalled project.

The final vote was 59-41. Senate needed 60 votes to pass. Nebraska landowners suing the state over Governor Heineman’s authority to approve the route are being realistic.

“No doubt when a new Congress comes in, the vote will be taken up again,” Randy Thompson said. “We really have to hope President Obama stands with us.”

Still, a vote in Washington D.C. would have little weight in Nebraska because of the lawsuit, according to several attorneys. The Nebraska Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming weeks as to whether the Public Service Commission must first review the pipeline before it can cross the state.

Thompson’s land was part of the original Keystone XL Pipeline route that was later changed, but he says he is standing firm with his fellow landowners.

“First and foremost, we need to win this decision,” he said. “Keep our legislature and governor within the constitutional boundaries.”

Future Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, has promised to bring the vote up again early in 2015. If the vote passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives, it would still need presidential approval. If President Obama vetoes the bill, Congress would need to approve the bill by a two-thirds vote to override the veto.