By Karl Puckett Tribune Staff Writer

U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and John Walsh of Montana voted for the Keystone XL pipeline bill that was defeated Tuesday after failing to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary for approval.

Both are Democrats.

The final vote was 59 votes in favor, and 41 against.

"I'm disappointed the Senate today failed to pass bipartisan legislation that creates jobs and increases energy security," Tester said in a statement. "We need to seize every common-sense opportunity to move this country forward. I remain optimistic that — despite today's vote — Congress will find ways to work together to strengthen our nation."

Tester is a supporter of building the Keystone XL pipeline as long as it is built to the highest safety standards and respect for private property rights, he said. He authored the bill's provision to protect private property rights.

The Keystone XL pipeline is a proposed 1,179-mile, 36-inch-diameter crude oil pipeline beginning in Hardisty, Alberta, and extending south to Steele City, Neb.

In Montana, the pipeline would enter the state on the northern border with Canada in Phillips county and continue southeast crossing Valley, McCone, Dawson, Prairie and Fallon counties.

Earlier in the day, Walsh, spoke in favor of the pipeline, which he called a critical infrastructure project delayed too long by political games.

"This project will provide good-paying construction jobs to Americans — including hardworking Montanans — at no cost to the American taxpayer," Walsh said. "And as the Bakken region continues to boom, this pipeline will provide an important on-ramp for Montana oil, which will boost local economies."

This year, the Bakken formation produced its one billionth barrel of crude oil, he noted.

Walsh said he had seen firsthand the costs of dependence on oil from hostile places. During the Iraq War, he said, he commanded the largest deployment of Montanans to war since World War II.

In March, Walsh said, he commissioned a report from the Government Accountability Office to study recent rail traffic trends, especially those patterns associated with the oil boom in the Bakken. The report identified several safety concerns as a result of rail traffic. The increase in rail congestion has also impacted Montana's farmers who rely on rail to bring their crops to market.

"Any further delays in approving this project present serious threats to the health and safety of our people as well as our economy," he said.

Before the vote, the Montana Environmental Information Center, one of the state's leading environmental organizations, sent out an "action alert" urging members to take immediate action by contacting Tester and Walsh asking them "to reject this terrible proposal."

A portion of this pipeline will cross through eastern Montana and the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers, placing Montana communities, farms and ranches, and rivers at risk from spills, the group said.

And Canada developing its tar sands oil reserves will contribute to climate change, the group added.

The pipeline will have capacity to transport up to 830,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to Gulf Coast and Midwest refineries, reducing American dependence on oil from Venezuela and the Middle East by up to 40 percent, according to developer TransCanada. It also would allow American oil producers, including those in the Bakken region, more access to large refining markets, the developer says.