Groups Call Time on Obama: Veto Congress' KXL Bill, Then Kill Project Outright

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., left, clasps hands with Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., sponsor of the Senate's Keystone XL pipeline bill version, on Wednesday as lawmakers gather to urge President Obama to sign the legislation approving expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline. The House passed the Senate's version of the bill Wednesday afternoon. (AP)

Groups Call Time on Obama: Veto Congress' KXL Bill, Then Kill Project Outright

Soaked with contributions from oil and gas interests, members of Republican-controlled House easily approve tar sands pipeline project

With members who receive large financial backing from oil and gas interests playing the dominant role, the House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday evening which would force the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Having already been approved by the Senate, the passage sets up a promised veto of the measure from President Obama as it heads to his desk.

In a 270-152 vote, which fell largely along party lines, the Republican-controlled House easily passed the measure. Twenty-nine Democrats joined with Republicans in favor of the bill.

The Senate passed same the bill by a 62-36 margin last month. Neither the House nor the Senate appears to have enough votes to override a presidential veto.

Sara Shor, a campaigner with 350.org, a group vocally opposed to the tar sands pipeline project known as KLX, described the ploy by Republicans and some Democrats in Congress to force its approval as a "charade" and said her group fully expects Obame to keep his pledge to veto the legislation. Obama now has ten days to veto or approve the legislation.

However, Shor added, "Once he vetoes this bill, the pipeline won't be stopped, so we hope he will then use his power to reject the pipeline outright."

Valerie Love, from the Center for Biological Diversity, echoed those sentiments. "Now that this political theater is over in Congress, it's time for President Obama to finally do what's right for people, wildlife and the climate: reject Keystone XL once and for all," Love said. "There's been a massive swell of opposition to Keystone XL from people coast to coast who understand the devastation of Keystone XL and projects like it. It's time to start tackling the climate crisis and get us off our fossil fuel addiction. Rejecting Keystone XL is the right place to start."

According to the Maplight Foundation, which tracks financial contributions to congressional campaigns, those members of the House who receive large backing from the oil and gas industries were much more likely to vote in favor of the Keystone XL approval than those who receive less. As Maplight's analysis shows:

  • The oil and gas industry gave, on average, 13 times more money to representatives voting 'YES' ($45,218) on S. 1 compared to representatives voting 'NO' ($3,549).
  • The oil and gas industry gave, on average, 5.3 times more money to Democratic representatives voting 'YES' ($18,141) on S.1 compared to Democratic representatives voting 'NO' ($3,444).

As Kyle Ash of Greenpeace told the Inter Press News service following Wednesday's vote, "Another climate denier-controlled House vote in favour of oil isn't a surprise, and the Democrats who voted with them of course are oil-funded politicians too."

The full roll call of the House vote follows:

---- YEAS 270 ---

Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amodei
Ashford
Babin
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Bost
Boustany
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Burgess
Bustos
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Clawson (FL)
Clyburn
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Cooper
Costa
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Cuellar
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Doyle (PA)
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Emmer
Farenthold
Fincher
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Garrett
Gibbs
Gibson
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Graham
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Griffith
Grothman
Guinta
Guthrie
Hanna
Hardy
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice (GA)
Hill
Hinojosa
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd (TX)
Hurt (VA)
Issa
Jackson Lee
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jolly
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Katko
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Knight
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
MacArthur
Maloney, Sean
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Noem
Nolan
Norcross
Nugent
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Peterson
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Richmond
Rigell
Roby
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Royce
Russell
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schock
Schrader
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Scott, David
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Sewell (AL)
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Sires
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Stutzman
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Veasey
Vela
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Walz
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Young (IN)
Zeldin
Zinke

---- NAYS 152 ---

Adams
Aguilar
Amash
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera
Beyer
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Boyle (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu (CA)
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Courtney
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Grayson
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hastings
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Honda
Huffman
Israel
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Levin
Lewis
Lieu (CA)
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
O'Rourke
Pallone
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Pingree
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rangel
Rice (NY)
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sherman
Sinema
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takai
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth

---- NOT VOTING 10 ---

Cartwright
Doggett
Duckworth
Fitzpatrick
Hoyer
Kaptur
Lee
Roe (TN)
Ruiz
Sanchez, Loretta

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