US House of Representatives clears Keystone XL oil pipeline project bill

The US House of Representatives has cleared a bill to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline project.

The House passed S.1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act, on a 270-152 vote.

US President Barack Obama has the authority to reject the pipeline. Obama has recently threatened to veto the measure.

The project is a proposed 1,897km crude oil pipeline, starting in Hardisty, Alberta, and extending south to Steele City, Nebraska.

It is proposed to carry about 830,000 b/d of Canadian and Bakken crude to the US Gulf Coast.

It will transport crude oil from Canada and support the growth of crude oil production in the US from producers in the Bakken region of Montana and North Dakota.

The pipeline, over its 50-year lifetime, is expected to release about 1.37 billion more tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said: "The facts are in; the case is closed. Keystone is good for jobs. It’s good for the environment. It is safe. It makes us more energy secure. We should say yes to Canada.

"The only reason we are still having this debate after six years of review is because the president won’t simply make a decision.

"I urge the president to take a hard look at the facts and reconsider his veto threat."