--- title: Senate One Vote Short on Keystone Pipeline Bill description: Landrieu Hunts for Filibuster-Proof Majority canonical: https://time.com/3589399/louisiana-senator-one-vote-short-on-keystone-pipeline-bill/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-17T17:02:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:22.168Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senate One Vote Short on Keystone Pipeline Bill og:description: Landrieu Hunts for Filibuster-Proof Majority og:url: https://time.com/3589399/louisiana-senator-one-vote-short-on-keystone-pipeline-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senate One Vote Short on Keystone Pipeline Bill twitter:description: Landrieu Hunts for Filibuster-Proof Majority twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production video:duration: 02:11 video:published: 2013-02-11 section: climate topics: Keystone Pipeline, oil sands, carbon emissions, pipeline spills, energy policy, US-Canada relations, environmental regulation, oil prices genre: explainer, news tones: informative, measured, analytical emotions: concern (medium), anticipation (low), determination (low) sentiment: neutral audience: general news readers, energy policy followers, environmental advocates, business readers people: Barack Obama, Bryan Walsh organizations: TIME, US State Department products: Keystone Pipeline, oil sands crude content_suitability: health controversy [01:07-01:37] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable --- # Louisiana Senator One Vote Short on Keystone Pipeline Bill > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7372d59a-a5df-482d-8d23-0a5a8824af02&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Explains: The Keystone Pipeline [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: The Keystone Pipeline](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HjKrhtY2.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2013-02-11. Building the Keystone XL pipeline will create jobs and potentially lower the price of oil, but it comes at an environmental cost. TIME's Bryan Walsh explains._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary TIME's Bryan Walsh explains the proposed Keystone Pipeline, which would carry processed oil from Canada's oil sands in Alberta to the US Gulf Coast. The video outlines the claimed economic benefits of job creation and possibly lower oil prices. It then covers three environmental objections: spill risk, the higher carbon intensity of oil sands crude, and local pollution concerns, and it notes that the State Department review and the President's decision are still pending. ## Key points - The Keystone Pipeline would carry processed oil from Canada's oil sands in Alberta down to the Gulf Coast in the US. (00:21) - Building the pipeline would enable the US to greatly increase its imports of oil sands crude and would boost North American oil production. (00:34) - The pipeline could probably lower the price of oil, according to the video. (00:40) - Environmentalists oppose the project partly due to the potential for spills, especially of heavy unconventional oil that can do more damage to local land. (00:50) - Oil sands oil is much more carbon intensive than conventional oil, releasing more carbon across extraction, processing and burning than oil from Saudi Arabia or Texas. (01:07) - Environmentalists worry the pipeline would hook the US on oil sands crude and encourage Canada to keep developing them. (01:37) - Local processing of oil sands in Canada can cause pollution, with concerns about water pollution affecting downstream native Canadian populations. (01:25) - The State Department has jurisdiction over the project because it crosses the US-Canada border and is still preparing its report, expected around spring. (01:52) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:21] Presidential directive and the decision ahead. Obama directs his administration to speed the project, and the narrator frames the pipeline decision as a major economic and environmental choice. - [00:21 to 00:48] What the Keystone Pipeline is. The pipeline would carry Alberta oil sands crude to the Gulf Coast, with claimed effects on US production and oil prices. - [00:48 to 01:37] Environmental objections to the pipeline. Environmentalists cite spill risk, the carbon intensity of oil sands crude, and local pollution in Canada. - [01:37 to 02:11] Regulatory review and next steps. The narrator explains the State Department's review role and that the President will make the final decision. ## Key quotes - [00:00] President Obama: "Today I'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape." - [00:08] narrator: "The decision on whether or not to actually build the proposed Keystone Pipeline is one of the most important economic and environmental choices President Obama faces" - [00:34] narrator: "It would boost North American oil production, probably lower the price of oil as well." - [01:07] narrator: "Oil sand oil is much more carbon intensive than conventional." - [01:37] narrator: "you're essentially. Hooking the United States on this unconventional crude, oil sands." ## Questions this video answers - What is the Keystone Pipeline? [00:21] - Why might the Keystone Pipeline lower the price of oil? [00:34] - Why are environmentalists opposed to the Keystone Pipeline? [00:50] - Why is oil sands oil considered more carbon intensive? [01:07] - Who has jurisdiction over the Keystone Pipeline review and when is its report expected? [01:52] - Who makes the final decision on the Keystone Pipeline? [02:04] ## Content suitability - health controversy [01:07-01:37]: Discusses water pollution concerns affecting downstream native Canadian populations and environmental harm from oil sands. by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Nov 17, 2014 5:02 PM UTC by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Nov 17, 2014 5:02 PM UTC Ten days ago, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said that a vote to authorize the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline would be a “[slam dunk](http://time.com/3569910/joe-manchin-barack-obama-cares-senate/).” As of Monday morning, a day before an expected high-profile Senate vote, the ball appears to be hovering above the rim. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the party’s Whip, said Sunday that the pipeline’s proponents have nabbed 59 votes as of Friday. All 45 Republicans are expected to vote for the bill, requiring 15 Democratic votes for passage. The two independents—Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Angus King of Maine—are no and “likely no,” respectively, according to a congressional aide. “Well, we were one vote short as we left last week,” said Durbin on [CNN’s State of the Union](http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/11/16/cnn-exclusive-with-senator-dick-durbin/) Sunday. “But I know they’re burning up the phone lines and e-mails trying to find that vote to support the procedural move. I don’t know how successful they have been.” Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is leading the effort to 60 in the midst of a heated runoff reelection race against Republican Louisiana Rep. Bill Cassidy, who sponsored identical Keystone legislation that passed the House Friday. Durbin acknowledged Sunday that the Keystone vote is political, as “every indication” predicts that President Obama will veto the three-page bill. “Every indication is, the president will veto an attempt to preempt the regular process of reviewing the permit for this pipeline,” said Durbin on [CNN](http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/11/16/cnn-exclusive-with-senator-dick-durbin/). “I think that it should go through the orderly process. The Republicans believe that the president’s power should be taken away, it should be moved on a fast track. But, remember, the oil that is going to flow through that pipeline is not going to be used in the United States or reduce gas prices in the United States.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] Today I'm directing my administration to cut [00:02] through the red tape. Break through the bureaucratic [00:05] hurdles. And make this project a priority. [ SOUND ]. The [00:08] decision on whether or not to actually build the proposed [00:10] Keystone Pipeline is one of the most important economic [00:13] and environmental choices President Obama faces during [00:16] the first few months of his second term. Here's what you [00:18] need to know [ MUSIC ] [00:21] The [00:24] Keystone Pipeline is a proposed project that would take [00:28] processed oil from Canada's oil sands in Western Canada, [00:31] in Alberta, and pipe it down to the Gulf Coast in the US By [00:34] building the pipeline, you would enable the U. S. to greatly [00:37] increase the amounts of oil sans crude. It would bring in [00:40] the United States, it would boost North American oil [00:43] production, probably lower the price of oil as well. [ MUSIC ] [00:48] There [00:50] are three main reasons really why environmentalists are [00:53] very much opposed to this project. One is the potential per [00:56] spill you'll have with the pipeline at many stores. Especially [00:58] one that in this case would be carrying very heavy [01:00] unconventional oil that can do more damage to the local [01:03] land if there is actually a spill. But the much bigger issue [01:07] really is what this means for the development of big oil [01:09] stands in Canada. Oil sand oil is much [01:14] more carbon intensive than conventional. That means [01:16] [ MUSIC ] The whole process of, of actually getting it out of [01:19] the ground, processing it, burning it, releases a lot more [01:23] carbon than the equivalent amount of oil from Saudi [01:25] Arabia, from Texas, for instance. And then, third, the actual [01:29] process, locally, in Canada, of, of the oil [ UNKNOWN ] can [01:31] produce a lot of pollution. And there have been concerns [01:34] about water pollution for downstream, native Canadian [01:37] populations. And so, environmentalists worry that, if you [01:39] build a pipeline like this, you're essentially. Hooking the [01:42] United States on this unconventional crude, oil sands. And [01:46] therefore, you're encouraging Canada to, continue [01:48] developing them. [ MUSIC ] State department, which [01:52] has jurisdiction over this project as it does cross [01:55] international borders between U. S. and Canada, is still [01:57] looking at the project, still coming up with its report. [01:59] [ MUSIC ] We expect that to be sometime in the spring, [02:02] maybe March they'll actually come forward with it. 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