Senator Blunt and McCaskill Support Keystone Pipeline, But Measure Fails

Both Senator Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill supported the passage of the Keystone XL Pipeline, but the measure did not pass in the overall Senate. We have comments from both sides.

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, a longtime supporter of construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, today released the following statement after a bipartisan 59-41 Senate vote on the pipeline’s construction fell one vote short of advancing the project:

“I’ve long supported Keystone, because it isn’t a question of whether this oil gets produced—it’s just how it gets to market. Getting this project moving will mean creating jobs and business opportunities, and boosting America’s energy security. Those are goals we should all be able to get behind, and so my support and advocacy for this pipeline will continue.”

McCaskill has long been a supporter of the swift approval and construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, previously voting to force approval of the project.

Earlier this year, McCaskill called on President Obama to implement an explicit timeline for approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline permit, highlighting the repeated delays in the approval process over the last several years.

In January, after the State Department completed its final environmental impact statement of the pipeline, McCaskill called on President Obama to approve the Keystone project. McCaskill previously urged then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to speed up the lengthy review process for the northern portion of the pipeline, citing the significant potential for jobs and increased energy security the pipeline's construction would mean for the United States.

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) issued the following statement today after the Senate failed to pass legislation to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline:

“For more than six years, the Obama administration and Senate Democrats have played politics with American jobs and our nation’s energy security by blocking and delaying this common-sense, shovel-ready project. The Keystone XL Pipeline would create tens of thousands of jobs and decrease our nation’s heavy reliance on unstable foreign sources of oil – without costing taxpayers a dime.

“As I’ve long said, more American energy means more American jobs. I am ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help American families right now. It’s disappointing that Senate Democrats chose once again not to join us in these efforts today.”

A recent American Petroleum Institute/IHS study found that under pro-energy development policies, more than 955,000 job opportunities would be created by 2020 and almost 1.3 million by 2030.