Keystone XL Veto Threat: Does ‘No’ Really Mean No?

The White House announced Tuesday that President Barack Obama would veto a Senate bill aimed at greenlighting the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

“If this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn’t sign it,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. He spoke just a day after deferring comment on the pending legislation, which is the latest in a series of attempts in Congress to approve the project.

A veto would likely extend the already tortuous six-year path for the proposed pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Senate Republicans are unlikely to muster enough votes to override it.

The current Senate bill to approve construction on Keystone’s 1,179-mile (1,897-kilometer) northern leg has 60-plus co-sponsors, and

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