WASHINGTON – Both United States senators from Missouri voted in favor of the Keystone XL Pipeline and are disappointed in the bipartisan 59-41 Senate vote on the pipeline’s construction, which fell one vote short of advancing the project.
“I’ve long supported Keystone, because it isn’t a question of whether this oil gets produced—it’s just how it gets to market,” Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said in a statement. “Getting this project moving will mean creating jobs and business opportunities, and boosting America’s energy security. Those are goals we should all be able to get behind, and so my support and advocacy for this pipeline will continue.”
In January, after the State Department completed its final environmental impact statement of the pipeline, McCaskill called on President Obama to approve the Keystone project. McCaskill previously urged then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to speed up the lengthy review process for the northern portion of the pipeline, citing the significant potential for jobs and increased energy security the pipeline’s construction would mean for the United States.
Republican Sen. Roy Blunt pointed towards the influence of the Obama Administration in the vote’s failure to advance the project.
“For more than six years, the Obama administration and Senate Democrats have played politics with American jobs and our nation’s energy security by blocking and delaying this common-sense, shovel-ready project,” Blunt said. “The Keystone XL Pipeline would create tens of thousands of jobs and decrease our nation’s heavy reliance on unstable foreign sources of oil – without costing taxpayers a dime. As I’ve long said, more American energy means more American jobs. I am ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help American families right now. It’s disappointing that Senate Democrats chose once again not to join us in these efforts today.”
A recent American Petroleum Institute/IHS study found that under pro-energy development policies, more than 955,000 job opportunities would be created by 2020 and almost 1.3 million by 2030.
Both senators have been longtime supporters of the project.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.
