House GOP defers to Senate Republicans on Keystone pipeline push

House Republicans are moving ahead with their push for expedited approval of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, but they're deferring to language backed by Senate GOP leaders.

“We wanted the best possible chance of the bill passing the Senate,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

House GOP leaders unveiled payroll tax cut legislation Friday that, as expected, would force a decision on permitting the proposed Alberta-to-Texas pipeline within months. The Obama administration intends to punt the decision until after the 2012 elections.

But the bill does not include a recent House Energy and Commerce Committee GOP proposal that would take the pipeline review away from the State Department and hand it to the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). That plan, sponsored by Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), would also restrict FERC’s discretion to reject the pipeline.

Instead, the House bill includes the recent Senate GOP Keystone plan sponsored by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), which Senate GOP leaders are promoting, that gives the administration 60 days to issue a permit for TransCanada Corp.’s $7 billion project unless President Obama publicly determines that the pipeline is not in the national interest.

House Energy and Commerce Republican leaders don’t seem to have hurt feelings about using the Senate language.

“There are numerous ways to get this project back on track, and it just makes sense to link the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline with the payroll tax relief and unemployment extension. We've been focused on this issue all year, and we're pleased to see it included as part of this package,” an Energy and Commerce Committee aide said.

The House has already moved this year to try and force Obama’s hand on Keystone, a project supported by many Republicans, some Democrats, and business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

In July, the House passed a bill sponsored by Terry that would have required a federal decision on the pipeline by Nov. 1 of this year. That measure passed 279-147 with support from 47 Democrats.

Earlier this week Obama threatened to veto legislation to extend the payroll tax cut — a top White House priority — if it included language to expedite the Keystone decision.

The pipeline is tricky political terrain for the White House. Environmentalists bitterly oppose the project over greenhouse gas emissions and forest damage from Alberta’s massive oil sands projects, among other reasons.

But a number of unions, which are also a key part of Obama’s political base, support the project.