The Democrat-controlled Senate failed to gather the 60 votes it needed to approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Senate’s 59-41 vote Tuesday night was a nail-biter to the end.
The Keystone XL pipeline project has been at the center of a major political debate since 2008 when TransCanda applied for permission to construct the 1,179-mile-long pipeline.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who chairs of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, worked hard to convince holdouts that the pipeline was a good idea. She pointed to the country’s long history of building pipelines as a reason to support the bill.