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Obama to Veto Keystone Bill if Passed by Congress: White House

© AFP 2023 / Brendan SMIALOWSKIAn activist holds up a sign outside the State Department during a protest of the Keystone XL pipeline on March 7, 2014 in Washington
An activist holds up a sign outside the State Department during a protest of the Keystone XL pipeline on March 7, 2014 in Washington - Sputnik International
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White House spokesman said that US President Barack Obama will not sign the Keystone XL pipeline bill if the new US Congress approves it.

WASHINGTON, January 6 (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama will not sign the Keystone XL pipeline bill if the new US Congress approves it, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday.

“If this bill passes this Congress, the President would not sign it,” Earnest told reporters.

The spokesman explained that the Keystone XL pipeline route has not been finalized yet and that this is the main stumbling block.

A depot used to store pipes for Transcanada Corp's planned Keystone XL oil pipeline is seen in Gascoyne, North Dakota - Sputnik International
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“There is still a disagreement in Nebraska about what the final route through that state should be, so it would be premature to try to evaluate a project before something as basic as the route of the pipeline has been established,” Earnest said.

The hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline in US Senate is scheduled for Wednesday and the House of Representatives is set to vote on the bill on Friday.

“I am under the impression that both the House version and the Senate version are the same, so essentially the veto threat would apply to both,” Earnest specified.

The Keystone Pipeline System currently stretches from Canada’s Alberta to refineries in the US states of Nebraska, Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma. Its expansion, Keystone XL, is planned to carry heavy crude oil through America’s heartland from Canada’s tar sands.

Thousands of US environmentalists have been protesting against the 1,179 mile (1,897 km) construction that will cost some $8 billion to build, according to a recent TransCanada Corporation estimate.

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