'Nay!': US Senate Fails in Attempt to Force Approval of Keystone XL Pipeline

As senators one by one took the floor on Tuesday to debate passage of the Keystone XL pipeline, youth and environmental activists stormed Capitol Hill to send a last-minute message to “turncoat” Democrats: ‘Listen to the people, not corporate dollars.’

According to reports, students were arrested for blockading the office of U.S. Senator Tom Carper (Del.), where they sang and brandished a banner that read: “Sen. Carper, if you’re not a climate denier, don’t vote like one.”

Youth activists along with members of the Cowboy-Indian Alliance held a sit-in at the office of Senator Michael Bennett (Colo.)where they blocked the door and read aloud names of communities along the tar sands pipeline route with the number of people whom would be adversely affected by its construction.

Aldo Seoane, an Indigenous activist with the Alliance, said during a press conference outside Bennett’s office that the lawmaker must “listen to the people, not just corporate money.”

The student-led actions are part of a wave of eleventh-hour demonstrations being held to prevent Democratic lawmakers from joining ranks with their GOP counterparts who are voting in favor of Big Oil interests.

On Tuesday, demonstrators in New York City, including Gasland director Josh Fox and progressive gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout, held a rally and press conference in Foley Square.

“Today’s goal: keep Big Oil from counting to 60,” wrote 350.org organizer Duncan Meisel on his Twitter feed Tuesday morning, referring to the number of votes necessary to pass the bill. In addition to 350.org, other national environmental groups including the Sierra Club have been advocating for constituents to call their lawmakers ahead of the vote.

On Monday, Senator Mary Landrieu boasted to feeling “very comfortable” that she had the 60 votes needed to advance the pipeline bill. Hoping to maintain her Senate seat in an upcoming runoff race in Louisiana, the Democratic senator is aiming sway a handful of other Democrats to vote alongside the 45 Republican ‘yes’ votes in favor of the pipeline.

Also Monday, demonstrators, including local students, a farmer from Nebraska, and representatives of Native American communities, erected a pipeline on Landrieu’s front lawn.

The vote, which is expected Tuesday evening, reportedly may come down to a single ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Independent Maine Senator Angus King, rumored to have been Landrieu’s 60th vote, waited until Tuesday afternoon before releasing a statement committing to vote against the pipeline.

In a blog post on Tuesday, the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group focused on the role of money in politics, tallied some of the money that went into swaying the “handful of centrist Democrats” on whose shoulders the Senate vote rests.

Sunlight notes: “Bennet last year received two contributions of $1,000 each from the lobbying firm that has been representing Saskatchewan, the Canadian province doing much of the lobbying for Keystone XL.”

Further, they report:

Regardless of the vote outcome, President Obama is expected to veto any legislation to approve the pipeline, which 350.org said is a “testament to the power of courageous grassroots organizing,” which they say has “turned Keystone XL from a done deal into Big Oil’s biggest headache.”

However, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who will become Majority Leader in January when Republicans take control of the Senate, assured his colleagues during comments from the Senate floor on Tuesday that should the vote fail the measure will be taken up in the next session.

In prepared remarks, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders told the Senate that scientific consensus is that we have a “narrow window of opportunity” to transform our energy system in light of the coming climate crisis. “This legislation would move us in exactly the wrong direction toward not only more dependence on fossil fuels but on some of the dirtiest fossil fuel imaginable,” Sanders added. “That is insane.”