Reid says the Keystone XL pipeline 'doesn’t sound reasonable.' Reid curtails Keystone XL talks

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday said he isn’t impressed with Republican congressional proposals to approve the Keystone XL pipeline over the White House’s objections.

“If we want to wean ourselves from foreign oil, why would we allow a pipeline to be built for 1,700 miles to manufacture petroleum products to be shipped overseas?” Reid told reporters after the weekly Senate Democratic policy lunch. “That’s the purpose of this.”


When asked about any Republican efforts to include Keystone language on this upcoming payroll package, Reid responded more generally about GOP ideas to boost domestic energy production.

“If they have some reasonable proposals, I’ll be happy to look at them,” Reid said. “But that doesn’t sound reasonable to me,” he added, referring again to the Keystone pipeline.

Reid appointed Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) as head of the conference committee trying to hammer out a deal on the payroll tax holiday extension. Baucus is a supporter of the pipeline, a fact that Reid was reminded of at his press conference.

“Max Baucus has been around here longer than I have,” Reid responded. “He is certainly a free agent and both senators from Montana approve of it, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it comes out. I told you how I feel about it, and that’s how I feel about it.”

House and Senate Republicans are looking to finalize language and a strategy soon to get the pipeline approved now that Obama declined to give it a presidential permit, said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.).

“Right now I’m still talking both to our working group in the Senate, leadership and House members to decide on exactly final form and the timeline,” Hoeven told reporters. “We haven’t decided that yet, but probably will within the next few days — both in terms with how we work with them … and also what we do on the Senate side because we want to make it fit together obviously.”

House and Senate Republican aides have been conversing both with themselves as well as with TransCanada officials of late to try to come up with a unified legislative strategy.

Republican aides held a conference call with TransCanada counsel Monday and Hoeven personally met Monday with Alex Pourbaix — the company’s president for energy and oil pipelines.

“I had him out in North Dakota while I was home,” Hoeven said. “So I stay in close touch with the company, what they’re doing and what can work.”

The purpose, he said, is “just make sure we have a good factual understanding of the project and how it works. And staying informed on what they think can work.”

He added: “And my understanding is they’re for a legislative solution that enables them to move forward. And so they’re open to however we can work with again senators and House members, both sides of the aisle, to get something done.”

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 4:28 p.m. on January 24, 2012.