- The latest Keystone XL delay is having an unintended consequence: the revival of the effort in Congress to bypass the White House by forcing approval of the project.
- Forcing approval would be difficult; Senate backers admit they still are a few votes short of the 60 needed to advance the bill, two-thirds of the Senate - 67 members - would be needed to override a likely presidential veto, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid so far has declined to bring up legislation that could embarrass Pres. Obama on Keystone (NYSE:TRP).
- But the oil isn't going to stay in the ground, and transporting oil by rail has more than doubled in the last three years; at the NTSB's Rail Safety Forum this week, regulators and industry reps are discussing everything from tank-car design to emergency response planning.