Laying Down The Keystone XL Pipeline (H.R. 5682)

What is H.R. 5682?

(Updated July 18, 2017)

This bill would green light the rest of the construction for the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline.

Part of this authorization for construction — on a pipeline that would cross six states: Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas — also means approving the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement performed for the pipeline in January 2014. This would mean that the pipeline plans would not face any more environmental impact checks.

Argument in favor

Expanding the Keystone pipeline will be a huge economic boon while helping the U.S. decrease dependence on foreign oil.

Argument opposed

Keystone XL poses a huge potential danger to the environment that could hurt scores of ecosystems, watersheds, and people.

Impact

People and wild organisms living around the Keystone XL Pipeline route, people in the oil and gas industry in the surrounding areas, Mary Landrieu's career.

Cost of H.R. 5682

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

Of Note:

Sponsoring Rep. Bill Cassidy's H.R. 5682 is rivaling an almost identical bill introduced in the Senate by Sen. Mary Landrieu.  They are both Louisiana lawmakers who at the time of this bill's introduction were heading into a run off election in early December 2014. 

In terms of the construction of the actual pipeline, the stakes in this fight are high for both sides. Environmentalists worry that approval of the project will effectively endorse the continued extraction of bitumen (otherwise known as oil sands or tar sands) in Canada, which has devastated the local environment and contributed to global warming. For TransCanada, which controls the world’s only landlocked oil reserve, the Keystone XL pipeline is their best bet for reaching an international market. For many members of Congress, the pipeline represents a potential source of jobs and income for their constituents, as well as a source of energy security.

Media:

NPR

The Washington Post

Open Secrets

(Photo Credit: Flickr user taylorandayumi)