Obama faces Dem pressure over pipeline

Obama faces Dem pressure over pipeline

President Obama is still facing pressure over the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas -- and now some of it is coming from fellow Democrats.

This week, the Republican-run Housed passed a transportation bill that includes a provision requiring approval of the pipeline, with 69 Democrats joining in a 293-127 vote.

In the Democrati c-controlled Senate, Republican officials say they are close to the 60 votes needed to force a vote on the pipeline.

"The president is becoming increasingly isolated in his opposition to this job-creating energy project," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "He should listen to the voices of the American people and unlock the project so we can get Americans working and address high gas prices."

Boehner and the Republicans have used the issue to attack Obama on two fronts: jobs and high gas prices.

The pipeline would carry oil from the tar sands of Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas.

White House officials -- noting that the pipeline won't be completed for years in any event -- requires environmental approvals that depend on a specific route through Nebraska. Officials in that state, including the Republican governor, have raised questions about the environmental impact of the pipeline.

White House spokesman Jay Carney sa id the government needs to be careful with approvals of "a pipeline that would be built by a foreign company, that emanates from a foreign country without knowing where that pipeline would go."

The problem, Carney said: Republicans want to play election-year politics.

"The only reason why we're in this position now is because Republicans in Congress decided to hijack that process for political reasons," Carney said.