Montana lawmakers push for reauthorizing Keystone XL

Montana Republicans have introduced bills in both chambers of Congress in a longshot effort to override President Joe Biden and reauthorize construction of the long-disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Biden canceled the project in one of many executive orders on his first day in office, angering Republican lawmakers who have derided his efforts to mitigate climate change as an attack on the U.S. energy sector. The pipeline's construction would have supported more than 10,000 jobs in 2021, but a much smaller number of workers would be needed to operate it in the long term. Biden, meanwhile, has touted his clean-energy initiatives as opportunities for job creation and warned that climate change presents "an existential crisis."

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale said Tuesday they had introduced legislation to reauthorize the pipeline, which would run through Montana and five other states, transporting crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to ports and refineries along the Gulf Coast. The two-page bill would allow TC Energy Corp. to "construct, connect, operate and maintain" pipeline facilities at the international border without a presidential permit.

"We must reverse Biden's disastrous decision and send a clear message that supporting American workers is more important than supporting Saudi Arabia and allowing radical environmentalists to cash in on campaign promises," Daines said in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, the lone Democrat in Montana's congressional delegation and a longtime supporter of the Keystone XL, meanwhile signed a letter Tuesday urging Biden to reconsider his decision.

"This project has the potential to support thousands of good-paying jobs, increase tax revenue into local communities, and support a safer, more efficient alternative to transporting fossil fuel by truck or railroad," Tester wrote. "The completion of the Keystone XL pipeline would be a powerful economic driver for Montana. I continue to support this project as long it is built to the highest safety standards, uses American steel, respects private property rights and includes robust consultation with tribes."

Tester acknowledged that Native communities and environmentalists have raised concerns about the route of the pipeline and the potential for leaks and spills that could hurt water quality.

"With a straightforward conversation and commonsense safeguards, I believe we can make adjustments to the proposed project that will provide even stronger protections for people and clean water, while still supporting jobs and economic development along the pipeline route," Tester wrote.

Tester voted for a previous bill to authorize the pipeline in 2015 and later that year joined 61 other senators in an unsuccessful vote to override a veto by then-President Barack Obama. On Tuesday, Tester's office said he, Daines and Rosendale all share "the same goal," but legislation may not be a simple way around Biden's executive order.

"Our team is looking closely at every option available to get this pipeline built, and Jon is glad to have the rest of Montana’s delegation pushing alongside him toward that goal," a Tester spokesman said in an email. "The reality is, whatever the status of the presidential permit, there are still outstanding court cases surrounding other aspects of the project. That’s why Jon is focusing not just on the presidential permit, which the Daines bill covers, but is trying to bring everyone to the table at once, so we can get these issues resolved once and for all and get folks to work building this pipeline as soon as possible."

It's unclear whether the Daines and Rosendale bills can gain any traction in the Democrat-controlled House or the evenly split Senate, which has Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential tie-breaking vote.

Daines and 25 other Republican senators signed a letter last week demanding to meet with Biden about his climate and energy actions. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had no plan to grant the meeting, noting concerns about COVID-19, but he would remain "engaged on an individual basis" with lawmakers of both parties.

In an interview with the Daily Inter Lake last week, Tester said he doesn't understand the "mystique" of the Keystone XL, noting thousands of miles of other pipelines already traverse the country. Pipelines are a safer way to transport oil than trucks and railways, and in the meantime the U.S. should work to fight climate change by investing in research and development of cost-competitive renewable energy sources, he argued.

"Some people think that if you just deprive people from carbon-based fuels, that things are going to get better. I don't see that," Tester said. "I'm a farmer. I put diesel fuel in my tractor. I don't have any other options. Until we get those options, that's where we're at. So we need to put some money into R&D to make sure we get some alternative sources that are more climate-friendly."

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4434 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com