Tester, Baucus on Keystone: "It's go time"

Senators highlight momentum in Congress as House panel discusses "Northern Route Approval Act"

(U.S. SENATE) – Montana’s U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus say it’s time for Congress to plow the path forward on the Keystone XL pipeline as a House subcommittee considers a bill to give the project the green light.

Tester and Baucus, who introduced legislation in March to approve the pipeline, say the project has bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House and the long-delayed project must move forward.

“It’s time to put Montanans to work building the Keystone XL Pipeline and increasing our energy independence,” Tester said, whose bill builds on momentum following a fourth favorable State Department environmental review indicating “no significant impact to the environment.” “Built to the highest safety standards and with strong protections for private property rights, the Keystone XL Pipeline will boost our economy, create good Montana jobs, and increase our energy security.”

“Enough analysis: it’s time to put Montanans to work on Keystone. Four and a half years after the Keystone pipeline was first proposed, we need the jobs and the energy independence it provides more than ever,” said Baucus.

The Senators’ bipartisan bill would approve the 1,700-mile, high-tech project under Congress’s authority enumerated in the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8.

Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will be marking up the Northern Route Approval Act in the Energy & Power subcommittee.

The Administration has delayed the project for more than four-and-a-half years. But now that Nebraska, the only state along the route with a concern has approved the path through the state, Baucus, Tester and Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) have been working cooperatively and with their respective party members to press the Administration to get both a timeline and a favorable decision.