http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/229049-reid-keystone-isnt-going-to-happenBy Laura Barron-Lopez - 01/09/15 01:54 PM EST
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he doesn't think Keystone XL is "going to happen" and is "confident" the president will stand by his veto threat.
In an interview with KNPR in Nevada, Reid said, "the more light that is shone on Keystone, the dimmer the project becomes."
"I don’t think it’s going to happen. I’m confident the president is going to veto it and, good, I hope he does," Reid said.
He railed against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for touting Keystone XL legislation, which is set to come to the Senate floor on Monday for cloture vote, as a jobs bill.
"They’ve blocked everything we’ve tried to do, as most everyone knows," Reid said of the new Republican majority. "So now, now what he would like is this Keystone issue, what he would like is for it to just whip out of the Congress, they would pass it and send it to the White House with very little discussion, that way they would have an issue, but it’s not going to happen that way."
Reid didn't mince words during the interview, calling the pipeline "one of the biggest farces."
"There’s just no possibility this can be good for the economy and certainly not good for the environment," Reid said. "It’s taken a life of its own and it’s been used for political purposes."
McConnell chided the administration on Friday after Nebraska's Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling, upholding a law allowing the governor to approve the pipeline's route through the state.
With that obstacle cleared, the project is now squarely in the hands of the administration.
The White House said its position hasn't changed despite the ruling, or passage in the House of legislation that approves the $8 billion project.
The administration said the State Department still needs time to look over the Nebraska decision and factor it into the ongoing review of the pipeline.
