House Republicans to Link Pipeline, Payroll Tax Cut

From Reuters:

Republicans in the House of Representatives said on Friday they will attach a bill designed to speed approval of the Keystone pipeline to payroll tax cut legislation House Speaker John Boehner hopes to pass this month.

The move is designed to ratchet up the heat on President Barack Obama, whose administration has put the Keystone XL pipeline on hold pending a study of a new route, pushing a decision past the 2012 presidential election.

When complete, the pipeline would deliver some 700,000 barrels a day of oilsands crude from the Canadian province of Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Green groups oppose the line because of concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from the mining of the Alberta tar sands and on worries about spills.

Currently, the State Department is mandated by law to approve any pipeline that crosses the U.S. border.

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