S. 1, the "Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act"
S. 1 grants a regulatory earmark to TransCanada Corporation, effectively exempting TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline from all federal permitting requirements, including requirements that apply to every other construction project in this country.
Tar sands are a dirty, high-polluting fuel. On a life-cycle basis, tar sands crude produces up to 40% more carbon pollution than conventional oil. Approval of the project would drive expanded production in the tar sands and more carbon pollution. It would increase our dependence on the dirtiest petroleum product currently available and lock in that dependence for decades. Even with the current proposed route, leaks from the highly corrosive crude in the pipeline would still threaten the Ogallala aquifer, a critical resource for drinking water and irrigation.
The House passed an earlier version of this bill, H.R. 3, on January 9, 2015. The Senate subsequently added a number of noncontroversial provisions to the bill related to energy efficiency, and two non-binding statements: 1) climate change is not a hoax, and 2) the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund tar sands loophole should be addressed. None of the additional provisions fix the fundamental flaws with the legislation. The Senate passed S. 1 on January 29, 2015.
In the 113th Congress, the House voted on H.R. 5862 as a previous attempt of this legislation becoming law. S. 1 marks the eleventh time the House has voted to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.