The Keystone XL pipeline, the single biggest issue between environmentalists and energy lobbyists, was denied approval for construction in 2014 by the margin of a single vote, narrowly defeating the largely Republican-supported Senate bill 2280.
Approval of the bill would have allowed the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline company to run a pipeline from Canada through the Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries waiting for crude oil to be pumped down from Canadian tar sands.
Despite all 45 Senate Republicans voting for the bill, they failed to secure enough votes across the aisle in the 59-41 defeat. Only 14 Senate Democrats voted in favor of it against 39 from their own party in addition to two independents.
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However, while 60 votes would have passed it, the bill would have needed 67 votes, a two-thirds majority, to circumvent President Obama's certain veto.
Connecticut's Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy sided with the majority of their party against the passage of S.2280. Both cited environmental concerns as reason for their oppostion to the Keystone XL pipeline.
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