"Savage two-month lobbying battle over Keystone oil pipeline starts now"

From The Hill's e2 Wire:

The 60-day clock for a federal decision on the Keystone XL pipeline started by the payroll tax deal will touch off a frenzied lobbying and PR battle as environmentalists and the oil industry seek to sway the decision.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Saturday for legislation that requires the State Department to issue a permit for the pipeline to bring Canadian oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries, unless President Obama determines that it’s not in the national interest.

The House is expected to follow suit next week, ensuring an all-out public and behind-the-scenes effort by business groups, environmentalists and other interests on both sides of the issue.


The pipeline has already been at the center of an intense lobbying effort involving at least 42 lobbying firms, associations and companies, which The Hill's Rachel Leven described here.

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