The House on Friday passed an identical version of the bill to approve Keystone, which was sponsored by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.).
Cassidy and Landrieu are battling it out in a Louisiana Senate runoff scheduled for Dec. 6, pushing Keystone to the forefront of the agenda in Congress.
Landrieu has corralled 14 Democrats for the Senate Keystone bill, the latest being Sens. Tom Carper (Del.) and Bennet.
Other Democrats who were seen as possible "yes" votes on the pipeline have declined to join the push.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who was courted by Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Landrieu, will vote “no” on the Keystone bill, his spokesman said Friday.
Nelson supports the pipeline but only with a ban on exporting the oil it transports.
Similarly, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said he would against approving the project, which would ship Canadian crude oil from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries.
A possible fence-sitter, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), is “leaning no,” according to his spokesman, giving some hope to Keystone supporters that he might change his mind.
Landrieu’s move to push a vote on the pipeline within minutes of Congress returning for the lame-duck session was unexpected, and seen as a move to boost her chances in the runoff against Cassidy.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/224209-keystone-one-away-from-60-in-senate
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