Keystone XL in best position ever to get Washington’s approval – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – November 6, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Canadian energy stocks got a big boost Wednesday from the Republican sweep in the United States’ mid-term elections, and for good reason: TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline is in the best position it’s ever been to finally get Washington’s approval.

Republicans, who are now in control of both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, are expected to move quickly to get approval for KXL, either in stand-alone legislation or by attaching the pipeline’s approval to another bill.

“I think Keystone will be one of the first bills we’ll be able to put up in the new Congress,” John Hoeven, the Republican Senator from North Dakota, told Reuters.

“I’ve got a bill right now that’s got about 56 co-sponsors … and with the election results, we’ll have over 60 who clearly support the legislation.”

The pipeline could also be included in other legislative vehicles, such as bills involving the budget, tax reform, the debt ceiling, energy efficiency or infrastructure.

It helps that there is a new mood in Washington for building consensus.

KXL has been one of the most divisive issues in Congress as a result of President Barack Obama’s repeated delays to please the far-left environmental wing of his Democratic party. Such a permit is needed because it crosses a national border (the part of the pipeline south of the border has been in operation since the beginning of the year).

But with Democrats getting crushed on Tuesday, President Obama on thin ice to secure a legacy on climate change in his final two years in office, and Republicans eager to show they are able to govern ahead of the presidential elections in 2016, the path is looking clearer for the route from Alberta to the Gulf Coast.

The incoming leadership of the Senate is “very serious about getting bipartisan support for Keystone in the Senate,” said an informed observer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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