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 With the chamber apparently stuck at 59 votes in favor of Keystone
XL, Senator Mary Landrieu worked hard on Monday to gather one last
vote. Late in the day it seemed the Louisiana Democrat would come up
just short, likely hurting her chances of winning a new six-year
term in a December run-off election.
Backers of the bill in the 100-seat Senate need 60 votes to prevent
a filibuster by opponents. A companion bill easily passed the House
of Representatives on Friday.
The Senate is expected to vote as early as 6:15 p.m. EST on the
TransCanada Corp pipeline, which would transport more than 800,000
barrels per day of oil from Alberta to Nebraska, en route to the
Gulf of Mexico.
 Obama criticized the project during a trip to Asia late last week,
saying it would not lower fuel prices for U.S. drivers but instead
would allow Canada to "pump their oil, send it through our land,
down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else."
Republicans and energy analysts said those comments likely mean
Obama is leaning toward vetoing any Keystone bill.
"The President ... is basically threatening a veto this time," said
Ryan Bernstein, an aide to John Hoeven of North Dakota, who is
sponsoring the bill with Landrieu. "He is sending a signal to
Democrats."
Many environmentalists oppose Keystone, saying it would cause carbon
emissions linked to climate change to spike and that the oil could
be sold abroad. Construction workers and other supporters say it
would create thousands of jobs.
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Republicans plan to reintroduce the bill in January or February if
it does not pass on Tuesday. They expect to have a 60 votes in favor
next year after the party's strong showing in this month's U.S.
midterm elections.
TransCanada shares closed at $56.57 in Canadian trading on Monday,
up 1.4 percent.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Richard Cowan; Writing by Ros
Krasny; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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