Presidential Vetoes: Barack Obama and Keystone XL
Unlike many modern Presidents, Barack Obama has used his veto power very sparingly, just four times thus far. One of his most famous vetoes concerned a project known as the Keystone Pipeline. The Keystone Pipeline is an oil pipeline system planned to run between Canada and the United States. It is intended to deliver oil drilled from the east side of the province of Alberta, to refineries in Illinois and Texas, and also to oil tank farms and oil pipeline distribution center in Cushing, Oklahoma. Presently, three phases of the project are in operation, and the fourth is awaiting U.S. government approval. The three operating are:
Phase I, which delivers oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska where the line divides on to Wood River Refinery in Roxana, Illinois and Patoka Oil Terminal Hub (tank farm) north of Patoka, Illinois. This phase was completed in June 2010;
Phase II runs from Steele City to storage and distribution facilities at Cushing, Oklahoma. This phase was completed in February 2011; and
Phase III runs from Cushing to refineries at Port Arthur, Texas. It was completed in January 2014, and a lateral pipeline to refineries at Houston, Texas and a terminal will be completed later this year.
Phase IV, known as Keystone XL, was planned as a second pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, and Steele City, Nebraska, with a shorter route and a larger-diameter pipe. It would run through Baker, Montana, where American-produced light crude oil from the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota would also be sent through the pipeline.
The Keystone XL extension was proposed in 2008 with a formal application filed in September 2008. Hearings were held before the National Energy Board of Canada beginning in September 2009 and on March 11, 2010 the Canadian National Energy Board approved the project. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission granted a permit to proceed on February 19, 2010.
On July 21, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency said the draft environmental impact study for Keystone XL was inadequate. It was criticized for not fully addressing oil spill response plans, safety issues and greenhouse gas concerns.
A final environmental impact report was released on August 26, 2011. That study stated that the pipeline would pose no significant impacts on most resources if environmental protection measures were followed. In September 2011, Cornell ILR Global Labor Institute (GLI) released the results of the GLI KeystoneXL Report. This report evaluated the pipeline's impact on employment, the environment, energy independence, and on the economy.
On November 10, 2011, the Department of State postponed a final decision. Among other things, the State Department wanted to consider potential alternative routes around the Sand Hills in Nebraska. It also wished to investigate whether issuing a permit for the proposed pipeline is in the national interest. TransCanada Corporation, one of the largest partners in the project, said in response that fourteen different routes for Keystone XL were being studied, including at least one alternative route in Nebraska that would have avoided the entire Sandhills region. On November 22, 2011, the Nebraska unicameral legislature unanimously passed two bills that supported the plan to move the route, and approved up to US$2 million in state funding for an environmental study.
On November 30, 2011, a group of Republican senators introduced legislation which required the Obama administration to make a decision on Keystone XL within 60 days. In December 2011, Congress passed a bill giving the Obama Administration a 60-day deadline to make a decision on the application to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. This led to rejection of the project when, in January 2012, President Obama rejected the application. He said that the legislation creating the deadline for the decision had "prevented a full assessment of the pipeline's impact".
Later that year, on September 5, 2012, TransCanada submitted an environmental report on the new route in Nebraska. In March 2012, in a lead-up to his re-election campaign, President Obama endorsed the building of the southern segment (Phase III) from Cushing, Oklahoma. The President said, speaking in Cushing on March 22: "Today, I'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done."
In March 2013, the US Department of State Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs released its supplemental environmental impact statement. This report addressed changes to the original proposals, including the shortening of the pipeline to 875 miles, avoidance of potentially environmentally sensitive areas and concluded that "there would be no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed Project route." The report neither recommended acceptance nor rejection of the project however. But a strong op-ed piece in the New York Times recommended that President Obama should reject the project. It was reported that the consulting firm responsible for generating most of the State report had previously performed contract work for TransCanada corporation. In April 2013, the EPA challenged certain conclusions in the State Department report's and deemed the report insufficient to support any conclusions.
In May 2013 Republicans in the House of Representatives called for passage of the Northern Route Approval Act, which would allow for congressional approval of the pipeline, on the grounds that the pipeline created jobs and energy independence. The Northern Route Approval Act called for waiving the requirement for permits for a foreign company and bypassing the need for President Obama's approval.
On January 9, 2015 the U.S. House voted 266–153 in favor of the pipeline. On the same day, the Nebraska Supreme Court cleared the way for construction. A bill approving the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline was passed by the Senate (62–36) on January 29, 2015, and by the House (270–152) on February 11, 2015.
President Obama vetoed the bill on February 24, 2015. He said in his reasons for the veto that the decision of approval or rejection of the pipeline was one which, constitutionally, rested with the Executive Branch. The Senate was unable to override the veto by a two-thirds majority. They needed at least 66 votes from the 99 senators who voted. The final tally was a 62-37 vote.
Transcanada had sued Nebraska landowners who refused permission allowing for pipeline easements on their properties, in order to exercise eminent domain over such use. However, on September 29, 2015, it dropped its lawsuits and acceded to the authority of the elected, five-member Nebraska Public Service Commission, which has the state constitutional authority to approve gas and oil pipelines.
Keystone XL will likely be an issue in the 2016 election. For now, the project lacks the necessary approval to proceed at this time.
Phase I, which delivers oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska where the line divides on to Wood River Refinery in Roxana, Illinois and Patoka Oil Terminal Hub (tank farm) north of Patoka, Illinois. This phase was completed in June 2010;
Phase II runs from Steele City to storage and distribution facilities at Cushing, Oklahoma. This phase was completed in February 2011; and
Phase III runs from Cushing to refineries at Port Arthur, Texas. It was completed in January 2014, and a lateral pipeline to refineries at Houston, Texas and a terminal will be completed later this year.
Phase IV, known as Keystone XL, was planned as a second pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, and Steele City, Nebraska, with a shorter route and a larger-diameter pipe. It would run through Baker, Montana, where American-produced light crude oil from the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota would also be sent through the pipeline.
The Keystone XL extension was proposed in 2008 with a formal application filed in September 2008. Hearings were held before the National Energy Board of Canada beginning in September 2009 and on March 11, 2010 the Canadian National Energy Board approved the project. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission granted a permit to proceed on February 19, 2010.
On July 21, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency said the draft environmental impact study for Keystone XL was inadequate. It was criticized for not fully addressing oil spill response plans, safety issues and greenhouse gas concerns.
A final environmental impact report was released on August 26, 2011. That study stated that the pipeline would pose no significant impacts on most resources if environmental protection measures were followed. In September 2011, Cornell ILR Global Labor Institute (GLI) released the results of the GLI KeystoneXL Report. This report evaluated the pipeline's impact on employment, the environment, energy independence, and on the economy.
On November 10, 2011, the Department of State postponed a final decision. Among other things, the State Department wanted to consider potential alternative routes around the Sand Hills in Nebraska. It also wished to investigate whether issuing a permit for the proposed pipeline is in the national interest. TransCanada Corporation, one of the largest partners in the project, said in response that fourteen different routes for Keystone XL were being studied, including at least one alternative route in Nebraska that would have avoided the entire Sandhills region. On November 22, 2011, the Nebraska unicameral legislature unanimously passed two bills that supported the plan to move the route, and approved up to US$2 million in state funding for an environmental study.
On November 30, 2011, a group of Republican senators introduced legislation which required the Obama administration to make a decision on Keystone XL within 60 days. In December 2011, Congress passed a bill giving the Obama Administration a 60-day deadline to make a decision on the application to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. This led to rejection of the project when, in January 2012, President Obama rejected the application. He said that the legislation creating the deadline for the decision had "prevented a full assessment of the pipeline's impact".
Later that year, on September 5, 2012, TransCanada submitted an environmental report on the new route in Nebraska. In March 2012, in a lead-up to his re-election campaign, President Obama endorsed the building of the southern segment (Phase III) from Cushing, Oklahoma. The President said, speaking in Cushing on March 22: "Today, I'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done."
In March 2013, the US Department of State Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs released its supplemental environmental impact statement. This report addressed changes to the original proposals, including the shortening of the pipeline to 875 miles, avoidance of potentially environmentally sensitive areas and concluded that "there would be no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed Project route." The report neither recommended acceptance nor rejection of the project however. But a strong op-ed piece in the New York Times recommended that President Obama should reject the project. It was reported that the consulting firm responsible for generating most of the State report had previously performed contract work for TransCanada corporation. In April 2013, the EPA challenged certain conclusions in the State Department report's and deemed the report insufficient to support any conclusions.
In May 2013 Republicans in the House of Representatives called for passage of the Northern Route Approval Act, which would allow for congressional approval of the pipeline, on the grounds that the pipeline created jobs and energy independence. The Northern Route Approval Act called for waiving the requirement for permits for a foreign company and bypassing the need for President Obama's approval.
On January 9, 2015 the U.S. House voted 266–153 in favor of the pipeline. On the same day, the Nebraska Supreme Court cleared the way for construction. A bill approving the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline was passed by the Senate (62–36) on January 29, 2015, and by the House (270–152) on February 11, 2015.
President Obama vetoed the bill on February 24, 2015. He said in his reasons for the veto that the decision of approval or rejection of the pipeline was one which, constitutionally, rested with the Executive Branch. The Senate was unable to override the veto by a two-thirds majority. They needed at least 66 votes from the 99 senators who voted. The final tally was a 62-37 vote.
Transcanada had sued Nebraska landowners who refused permission allowing for pipeline easements on their properties, in order to exercise eminent domain over such use. However, on September 29, 2015, it dropped its lawsuits and acceded to the authority of the elected, five-member Nebraska Public Service Commission, which has the state constitutional authority to approve gas and oil pipelines.
Keystone XL will likely be an issue in the 2016 election. For now, the project lacks the necessary approval to proceed at this time.